Atractides robustus (Sokolow, 1940)

Pešić, Vladimir, Bankowska, Aleksandra, Goldschmidt, Tom, Hårsaker, Karstein, Jovanović, Milica, Kaitetzidou, Elisavet, Krakowiak, Maja, Kozłowska, Aleksandra, Michaloudi, Evangelia, Michoński, Grzegorz, Miliša, Marko, Pozojević, Ivana, Rewicz, Tomasz, Rusiniak, Oliwia, Sobolak, Karolina, Szućko, Izabela, Stryjecki, Robert, Stur, Elisabeth, Szlauer-Łukaszewska, Agnieszka, Szenejko, Magdalena & Zawal, Andrzej, 2025, Checklist of water mites from the Balkan Peninsula: second supplement, new DNA barcodes and description of a new species, Zootaxa 5676 (1), pp. 1-74 : 46

Atractides robustus (Sokolow, 1940) - complex ( Fig. 8F )

Published records: Bosnia and Herzegovina: Pešić et al. (2024a); Montenegro: Pešić et al. (2021a).

Distribution: Central and southern Europe, Russia, Latvia, Caucasus, Türkiye, Iran.

New barcode sequences: Montenegro: ADZ9348 (HYDMN443-24, HYDMN380-24, HYDMN367-24). Greece: AGC6045 (BSNTN1975-24).

BINs: BOLD:ADZ9348, BOLD:AGC6045.

BIN distribution: BOLD:ADZ9348 ( Germany, Austria, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Romania), BOLD:AGC6045 ( Greece).

Remarks: Recently, Pešić et al. (2023b) showed that A. robustus , a species originally described from the Caucasus (the affluents of the Kuban River), consists of two distinct lineages. The first lineage cluster several BINs populations from eastern Türkiye and northern Iran, and is likely conspecific with A. robustus , while the second lineage, which includes A. robustus -like specimens from central and southern Europe (BIN: ADZ9348), possible represents a cryptic species new to science.

Figures

FIGURE 8. Photographs of selected water mite species.A—Monatractides stadleri ♀ [BGE_00247_E08]; B—Limnesia walteri ♀ [BGE_00247_F11]; C—Lebertia algeriensis ♀ [BGE_00247_B11]. D—Lebertia variolata ♀ [BGE_00247_E09]. E— Hygrobates gr. trigonicus ♂ [BGE_00247_F05]. F—Atractides gr. robustus ♀ [BGE_00247_G03]. G—Mesobates forcipatus ♀, [BGE_00247_F07]. H—Mideopsis milankovici ♂ [BGE_00247_F12]. Scale bar 250 µm. Photos by Aina M. Aspaas, NTNU University Museum.