Sterkspruitia comorosensis, n. sp.
Creators: name: Pešić, Vladimir
name: Smit, Harry
name: Mary, Nathalie
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Trombidiformes
Hygrobatidae
Sterkspruitia
Sterkspruitia comorosensis

description: Sterkspruitia comorosensis n. sp.
(Figs. 8A–B, 9A–D)
Type series. Holotype male (MNHN), dissected and slide mounted, Comoros, Mayotte, River Djalimou, 12°57'13,8"S, 45°06'52,7"E, 14-iv-2009, N. Mary.
Diagnosis (Female unknown). P-2 with a spatula-shaped ventrodistal protrusion, P-3 with a central thickening; S-1 and -2 heteromorphic and distanced, S-1 ending in a fine pointed tip, S-2 with well developed dorsal projection, apically rounded; IV-L-3–5 with strongly serrated setae.
Description. Ventral and dorsal shield present; dorsal shield occupying large part of dorsum, consisting of three pairs of platelets (Fig. 8A); contour lines of coxal plates visible, dividing them into 3 groups, separated by strips of porose sclerotization, Cx-I extending beyond frontal idiosoma margin; gnathosoma broadly fused with Cx-I; area of ventral shield posterior to Cx-IV separated by a narrow strip of soft integument surrounding a large plate bearing genital field, Ac in a curved line; excretory pore and Vgl-1 and -2 lying in soft integument posterior to genital plate, excretory pore sclerotized, Vgl-1: fused to Vgl-2 (Fig. 8B). Palp: P-2 with a spatula-shaped ventrodistal protrusion, P-3 with a central protrusion; P-4 with ventral setae and a short, fine sword seta, inserted far proximally (Figs. 9B–C). I-L-5 strongly thickened, with ventral and dorsal margins diverging from base to S-1 insertion, in the extended area between S-1 and -2 subparallel, S-1 and -2 heteromorphic and distanced, S-1 ending in a fine pointed tip, S-2 with well developed dorsal projection, apically rounded; I-L-6 long and slender, only slightly narrowed from the base to the tip (Fig. 9A). Legs comparatively long and slender, IV-L-3–5 with strongly serrated setae (Fig. 9D).
Measurements. Male—Idiosoma L/W 472/366; dorsal shield L/W 245/281; coxal field: Cx-I+II L/W 234/297, Cx-III+IV L 187; genital plate L/W 202/250, genital field L/W 95/102, gonopore L 52, L Ac 1–3: 20–22, 25–26, 22.
Palp: Total L 293, dL/H, dL/H ratio: P-1, 24/28, 0.85; P-2, 68/35, 1.96; P-3, 82/29, 2.79; P-4, 82/25, 3.2; P-5, 37/14, 2.6; L P-2/P-4 ratio 0.83.
Legs: I-L-5 dL 161, vL 75, dL/vL ratio 2.13, maximum H 59, dL/maximum H ratio 2.7, S-1 length 69, L/W ratio 5.0, S-2 length 38, L/W ratio 3.1, distance 43, length ratio S-1/2, 1.8; I-L-6 L 146, central H 18.5, length/ central height ratio 7.9; L I-L-5/6 ratio 1.1. dL of IV-L-2-6: 84, 120, 139, 168, 165.
Female: unknown.
Etymology. Named after the archipelogo (Comoros) where the new species was found.
Remarks. This is the second Sterkspruitia species, the first one (S. ovalis Cook, 2003) was described by Cook (2003) from a tributary of the Sterkspruit River, Eastern Transvaal, South Africa. The species from South Africa, known from a single male, differs from Sterkspruitia comorosensis n. sp. in: 1) P-2 ventrodistal protrusion bluntly pointed, 2) ventral margin of P-3 strongly concave, 3) S-2 curved, apically bluntly pointed, with comparatively larger dorsal projection. Moreover, Sterkspruitia comorosensis n. sp. differs in a smaller dimensions of idiosoma and IV-L-3–5 having strongly serrated setae.
Distribution. Comoros (Mayotte), known only from the locus typicus.
description: Published as part of Pešić, Vladimir, Smit, Harry & Mary, Nathalie, 2015, Third contribution to the knowledge of water mites from the Comoros, with the description of two new species (Acari: Hydrachnidia), pp. 445-459 in Zootaxa 3964 (4) on pages 456-457, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3964.4.4, http://zenodo.org/record/237029