Halacaridae (Acari) from the Atlantic coast of boreal North America. Ecological and zoogeographical analysis

Abstract

Halacaridae (Acari) from the Atlantic coast of boreal North America. Ecological and zoogeographical analysis. 38 halacarid species from the coasts of the boreal West Atlantic Ocean have been recorded. In a wide-spread net of stations, samples were taken from different substrata in marine and brackish waters in order to obtain information on the biology and ecology of halacarid species. Several habitats with their flora, fauna and halacarid species are described. In intertidal areas on the coasts of boreal North America fewer species were found than known from European coasts. Similar habitats on the west and east coasts of the North Atlantic Ocean are compared with respect to their halacarid population. In the rhombognathine and the genus Halacarellus, most species found in the West Atlantic Ocean are known in the East Atlantic too, living in similar habitats.The genera Anomalohalacarus and Copidognathus are common both in North American and European waters, but comparable biotopes are inhabited by different species, though often related or very similar in their appearance. 45 % of the halacarid species found in the boreal West Atlantic Ocean are also known in the East Atlantic. Hypotheses as to the dispersal and geographical distributior~ of halacarid genera and species are discussed. It is supposed, that many of the amphiatlantic species invaded biotopes on the American and European coasts, shortly after these continental plates drifted apart. EINLEITUNG

Marine mites (Halacaroidea: Acari): a geographical and ecological survey

“…Trouessart (1894aTrouessart ( , 1901, Viets (1927a,b), Bartsch (1975bBartsch ( , 1976aBartsch ( ,b, 1977aBartsch ( ,b, 1979aBartsch ( , 1980, Pugh & King (1985a) and Green & MacQuitty (1987). The most intensive sampling along the American coast were done by Newell (1947) and Bartsch (1979b). In addition to faunistic information, ecological data have been gathered in Europe from the brackish Elbe estuary (Bartsch, 1972(Bartsch, , 1974, from sandy flats in the North Sea (Bartsch & Schmidt, 1979), from the English Channel region (Bartsch, 1978c(Bartsch, , 1979aPugh & King, 1985a), in the US from the Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island (Bartsch, 1982a).…”

Reflections on distribution and origin of the halacarid genus Isobactrus (Acari: Halacaridae)

“…Another species is mentioned from Saint-Guénolé (south-western coast of Brittany, France) (Trouessart 1901;André 1939), though its position is doubtful. Samples from the shores of Rhode Island (USA) contained four species (Bartsch 1982a). Three of these species are amphiatlantics, common on both the shores of Europe and North America.…”

Arhodeoporus, Camactognathus, Plegadognathus, and Winlundia (Acari: Halacaridae), re-evaluation and geographical distribution

“…A list of species from Massachusetts (Cap Cod) to the eastern edge of New Foundland includes 21 halacarid species but just one Arhodeoporus (Newell 1947;Bartsch 1982aBartsch , 1997a. From Massachusetts to South Carolina two Arhodeoporus species are listed.…”