Atractides gereckei Pesic, sp. nov
Creators: name: Pesic, Vladimir
name: Saboori, Alireza
name: Asadi, Mahdieh
name: Vafaei, Reza
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2004
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Arachnida
Trombidiformes
Hygrobatidae
Atractides
Atractides gereckei

description: Atractides gereckei Pesic sp. nov
(Figs. 26–33)
Type material: Holotype: male, dissected and slide mounted in Hoyer's fluid; Iran: IR16 Kerman Province, stream in village Sirch, 50 km E from Kerman (30°12'37 N 57°34' 11E), 1834 m asl., 24.07.2003, leg. Pesic. Paratypes: 1 male, same data as holotype; IR25 Kerman Province, Vamegh Abad stream near Vamegh Abad village (30°3'39 N 57°17' 29E), 1930 m asl., 27.07.2003, leg. Pesic, 1 male.
Females probably belonging to this species (not included in the type material): 5 females, same station as holotype; 4 females, IR25 Kerman Province, Vamegh Abad stream near Vamegh Abad village 27.07.2003, leg. Pesic.
Diagnosis: Males. Dorsal integument: finely striated; muscle attachments: unsclerotized. I­L: I­L­5 with S­1/2 strongly heteromorphic and distanced, S­1 long, distally thickened, S­2 shortened, enlarged; I­L­6 very long and slender. Excretory pore: smooth; Vgl­1: not fused with Vgl­2. Palp: sexual dimorphism? ventral margin of P­4 with remarkable long ventral hairs, sword seta strong and curved, inserted halfway between ventral hairs.
Description
Male: Length of idiosoma 464, width 305. Dorsally the integument is finely striated; muscle attachments: unsclerotized. Coxal field: mediocaudal margin of Cx­1+2 indented between the laterally directed apodemes of Cx­2 (Fig. 26); length between anterior end of first coxae and posterior end of fourth coxae 281; Cx­3 width 304, Cx­1+2 width 238.5; Cx­1+2 medial suture 86.5 in length; distance from lateralmost tips of Cx­2 to the medioposterior edge of Cx­1+2 184.6. Measurements of mouthparts: chelicera 176 in length, claw 52 in length; palp total length 265.5, dorsal length and relative length (% total length, in parentheses) of single segments: P­1 28 (10.5), P­2 61.5 (23.2), P­3 63 (23.7), P­4 82 (30.9), P­5 31 (11.7); length ratio P­2/P­4 is 0.75; palp (Fig. 28­29): P­2 with ventral projection, ventral margin of P­4 with remarkably long ventral hairs, sword seta strong and curved, inserted halfway between ventral hairs. Genital field (Fig. 30): with nearly straight, irregular anterior margin; 75 in length, 82.7 in width, Ac­1­3 length 18­22­23; excretory pore smooth; Vgl­1: separated from Vgl­2.
I­L (Fig. 27): I­L­5 ventral margin slightly expanding near the insertion of the ventral seta, S­1/2 strongly heteromorphic and distanced, S­1 long, distally thickened, S­2 shortened, enlarged, with irregular blade and a blunt tip; I­L­6 long and slender, only slightly narrowed from the base to the tip; I­L­5 dorsal length 150, I­L­5 ventral length 91, ratio dorsal length I­L­5 /ventral length 1.65,I­L­5 central height 52, ratio dorsal length I­L­5/ central height, 2.9 S­1 length 87, ratio length S­1/width 11.3, S­2 length 65.4, ratio length S­2/ width 6.8, distance between sword setae of I­L­5 23; ratio length S­1/2 1.33; I­L­6 length 129, I­L­6 central height 17.3, ratio length I­L­6/central height 7.45; ratio length I­ L­5/6 1.16.
Female (from Sirch, in brackets female from Vamegh Abad stream): Length of idiosoma 707 (679), width 536 (507). Dorsally the integument is finely striated. Coxal field: length between anterior end of first coxae and posterior end of fourth coxae 362 (294); Cx­ 3 width 415 (373); Cx­1+2 medial suture line 110 (88.5) in length; distance from lateralmost tips of Cx­2 to the medioposterior edge of Cx­1+2 215 (211.5). Measurements of mouthparts: chelicera 235 in length, claw 65.4 in length; palp total length 347 (342), dorsal length of single segments: P­1 31 (33), P­2 81 (80), P­3 96 (94), P­4 104 (102.5), P­5 35 (33); relative length (% total length) of single segments: P­1 8.9 (9.6), P­2 23.3 (23.4), P­3 27.7 (27.5), P­4 30.0 (30.0), P­5 10.1 (9.6); ratio length P­2/P­4 is 0.78 (0.78); palp (Fig. 32): P­4 ventral margin 2:2:1, with denticles near hair insertions, but the distal one only little projecting. Genital field (Fig. 33): praegenital sclerite equally sickle­shaped, Ac in an equally curved line; 163 in length, 154 in width, Ac­1­3 length 31 (34.6)­34 (36.5)­33 (25); excretory pore smooth; Vgl­1: separated from Vgl­2.
I­L(Fig. 31) I­L­5 S­1/2 distanced; I­L­5 dorsal length 208 (207), I­L­5 ventral length 104 (104), ratio dorsal length I­L­5 /ventral length 2.0 (1.99), I­L­5 central height 73 (69), ratio dorsal length I­L­5/central height 2.9 (3.0), S­1 length 134.6 (126),ratio length S­1/ width 14.0 (13.1), S­2 length 90.4 (88.5), ratio length S­2/ width 6.7 (7.4), distance between sword setae of I­L­5 47 (44); ratio length S­1/2 1.49 (1.42); I­L­6 length 194 (190), I­L­6 central height 15.4 (19.2), ratio length I­L­6 /central height 12.6 (9.9); ratio length I­L­5/6 1.07 (1.09).
Discussion: Species close to Atractides gereckei sp. nov. with a similar morphology and proportions of I­L (I­L­5/6 <1.2, I­L­5 stout, with relatively short ventral margin, S­1 at the tip thickened), unsclerotized excretory pore, and unfused Vgl­1/2, are Atractides distans K.Viets, 1914, A. gomerae Lundblad, 1962, A. allgaier Gerecke, 2003, A. gassowskii (Sokolow, 1934), A. gracilis (Sokolow, 1934), and A. odarkensis (Sokolow, 1934). From all these species, Atractides gereckei nov. sp. is easily distinguished in the male by the shape of palp with remarkabe long ventral hairs of the P­4.
Furthermore, from the latter three A. distans ­like species, described from Siberia, Atractides gereckei nov. sp. differs, in a shorter median suture line Cx­1+2 and more slen­ der segments I­L­5, from A. allgaier (in parentheses data from Gerecke 2003), in a densely striated, not lineated integument, a shorter and slender S­1 (S­1 L>130, L/W<13.0) and less heteromorphic setae S­1/2 (L ratio S­1/2 1.52­1.60 in female).
A. gomerae (in parentheses data from Gerecke 2003), so far known from a single female from Spain, differs from the specimens suspected to represent the females of A. gereckei sp. nov. in a smaller genital field (L/W <130/130µm) and acetabula (<25µm), and the sword seta P­4 located more proximally. As compared with A. gereckei sp. nov., females of A. distans can be distinguished by the more slender setae S­1/2 (L/W S­1> 15.0, S­2> 8.5).
From A. longisetus Pesic, 2002 (in brackets data from Pesic 2002), a similar species due to the remarkabe long ventral hairs of the male P­4, and the absence of denticulation or rugosity on the projection of the male P­2, A. gereckei sp. nov. is easily distinguished in a densely striated, not lineated integument, a genital field with Ac arranged in curved line (in triangular position, Ac­1 and Ac­3 approached to each other), and a smaller dimensions of genital acetabula (maximum diametar> 40 m).
Etymology: The species is named after Dr. Reinhard Gerecke (Tübingen) in appreciation of his studie of the genus Atractides and support to first author.
Biology: Atractides gereckei sp. nov. is a rhitrobiontic species, which inhabits streams at higher elevations
Distribution: Iran, only known from the Kerman Province.
description: Published as part of Pesic, Vladimir, Saboori, Alireza, Asadi, Mahdieh & Vafaei, Reza, 2004, Studies on water mites of the family Hygrobatidae (Acari, Hydrachnidia) from Iran, I. The water mite genus Atractides Koch, with the description of five new species, pp. 1-40 in Zootaxa 495 on pages 17-20, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.157855