Two new sympatric water-mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia: Unionicolidae) from the mutelid bivalve Aspatharia sinuata (von Martens) in Nigeria with some data on unionicoline-bivalve relationships

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The genus Unionicola Haldeman, 1842 contains 56 subgenera (Smit, 2008). The subgenus Polyatacides Lundblad, 1941a was originally created as a genus. Cook (1974) reduced the taxon to subgenus. Vidrine (1986a) eliminated the subgenus, and placed its only species, U. prominens Koenike, 1914, into the subgenus A tacella Lundblad, 1937. Vidrine (1996 resurrected the subgenus Polyatacides in the genus Unionicola. This paper supports that change and re-evaluates Polyatacides, Atacella, and Berezatax Vidrine 1986b: the three subgenera have dorsoventrally flattened pedipalps and form a distinctive Artenkreis of gill mites in the Americas.

Section: Subgenus Polyatacidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

SubgenusPolyatacidesLundblad, 1941 (Acari: Unionicolidae:UnionicolaHaldeman)

Vidrine¹,

Edwards²,

Bastian-Stanford³

et al. 2008

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“…To date, only one subgenus, Mutelicola, has been reported from mussels in Africa (Gledhill and Vidrine, 2002). Two species were described from the freshwater mussel Aspatharia sinuata (von Martens, 1888) (= Aspatharia pfeifferiana (Barnardi 1860)fide Art Bogan (pers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new subgenus (Chambardicola) and species ofUnionicola(Acari: Hydrachnida: Unionicolidae) from freshwater mussels from the central African Republic

Vidrine¹,

Borsari

Bastian-Stanford³

2005

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The genus Unionicola Haldeman in the family Unionicolidae is distributed worldwide, with more than half of the known species recorded as parasites of freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia). A new subgenus, Chambardicola n. subgen., is described from freshwater mussels, Chambardia wissmanni (Martens 1883), collected in the Ubangi (Oubangui) River, Central African Republic (Congo basin), Africa. The new species is Unionicola (Chambardicola) banguiensis n. sp., a unique mite with distinctive coxal plate anatomy and male genital field. This new mite extends our understanding of the morphology and biogeography of the genus in Africa. It further extends our knowledge of host selection and host-specificity among African Unionicola.

“…The genus has undergone extensive revisions over the past 25 years (Vidrine 1986a(Vidrine , 1996a(Vidrine , 1996b and currently contains more than 230 described species in some 56 subgenera (Gledhill and Vidrine, 2002;Vidrine et at., 2007. Subgeneric distinctions are based primarily on variations in the structure of the genital field (Cook, 1974;Vidrine, 1986a), while species within subgenera are distinguished by chaetotaxy or the shapes of claws on the walking legs (Vidrine, 1996a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Differences Among Sibling Species of the SubgenusDimockatax(Acari: Unionicolidae:Unionicola): Heterogeneity in Dna Sequence Data Supports Morphological Differentiation

Ernsting

Edwards

Vidrine

et al. 2008

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Water mites of the subgenus Diniockatax (Unionicolidae: U I I~O I~~C O~)are common inhabitants of anodontine bivalve molluscs. Morphological differences among the five species that comprise the subgenus are minor and based primarily on subtle differences in one or two characters. The newly described species Uiiionicola eriutiiigi (Edwards et al., 2008) is distinguished from its sibling species U. ttnsida (Wolcott, 1898) by the number of clawlets on the tarsus of the pedipalps. These mites have been reported from the same locality, although they inhabit distinct species of host mussels. Uiiioriicola eriistirtgi occurs with Anodontoides radiatis (Conrad, 1834), and U. ttrniida is found in association with Strophitin subvexis (Conrad, 1834). Taxonomic delineations among U I~~O I I~C O~~ mussel-mites parasitizing different species of hosts have, however, been challenged by the suggestion that morphological differences between mites may be influenced by the host species in which they metamorphosed. To test the validity ofthe species status for Dirnockatnu mites from A . radiatus and S. strbvexirs, heterogeneity in sequence data of the cox1 gene was examined. A comparison of cox1 sequences for U. tirniida from S. subveriis and U. eriistirigi from A. radiatirs revealed a high degree of differentiation (12.7%). The genetic differences observed for U. erristirtgi and U. tirirtida are consistent with those observed for other closely related, yet morphologically distinct species of Uiiioiiicola reported from different species of host mussel and thus complement morphological data recognizing them as valid species.