Halacaridae (Acari) from Punta Allen (Quintana Roo, Mexico): description of one new and one known species of the genus Copidognathus
Chatterjee, T.; De Troch, M. (2001). Halacaridae (Acari) from Punta Allen (Quintana Roo, Mexico): description of one new and one known species of the genus Copidognathus. Hydrobiologia 457(1-3): 235-244. dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1012294021435
In: Hydrobiologia. Springer: The Hague. ISSN 0018-8158; e-ISSN 1573-5117
Two Halacaridae species belonging to the genus Copidognathus were collected among Thalassia testudinum leaves from Punta Allen on the Caribbean south coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (Quintana Roo State, Mexico) and are described in the present paper. Copidognathus yucatanensis sp.n. is characterised by a median transverse rectangular areola on AD made up of rosette pores, posterodorsal plate with two costae, costae in anterior and posterior region wide (3-4 pores) with prominent rosette pores; in the middle portion costae faint, 2-3 pores wide with feebly developed rosette pores, small ostium and also with pycnotic pores, epimeral process I present, ovipositor away from reaching level of perigenital setae I, tarsi III and IV with 4:3 dorsal setae. This species belongs to the 'oculatus' group. Dissimilarity with closely related species is also reported. A second species of the genus Copidognathus, C. uniscutatus Bartsch (1984) was also recovered from the samples from Punta Allen. This is a first record of the species in the Atlantic Ocean and away from its type locality (The Philippines). Only small variation can be observed and from this we can conclude that some characteristics such as, e.g., reticulation of AD and PD area cannot be considered as distinctive. In addition to these descriptions, we report an overview of the Halacaridae species recorded so far from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy