Torrenticola laskai Di Sabatino, 2009

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 : 40-41

Torrenticola laskai Di Sabatino, 2009 - complex

Published records: Croatia: Žeželj Vidoša et al. (2023); Montenegro: Pešić et al. (2021a); Serbia: Pešić et al. (2020b, 2021b); Greece: Pešić et al. (2021b).

Distribution: South and Southeastern Europe.

New barcode sequences: Montenegro: BOLD:AED2306 (HYDMN076-24, HYDMN411-24), BOLD:AEF5471 (HYDMN415-24). Greece: BOLD:AER2560 (BSNTN1958-24).

BINs: BOLD:AEF5471, BOLD:AED2306, BOLD:AER2560.

BIN distribution: BOLD:AEF5471 ( Montenegro, North Macedonia, Greece), BOLD:AED2306 ( Montenegro,

Serbia, Romania), BOLD:AER2560 ( Greece, Romania).

Remarks: Recently the status of T. laskai , a species with the type locality in Corsica ( Di Sabatino et al. 2009) but widely reported from the Mediterranean has been questioned by Pešić & Smit (2022a), who, based on molecular data, revealed that the latter species might be a complex of cryptic species. The latter authors barcoded specimens of T. laskai from Corsica and showed the presence of two highly supported clades. Considering the similarity in size and shape of the ejaculatory complex, Pešić & Smit (2022a) assumed that the clade grouping specimens of BINS BOLD:AET4248 and BOLD:AEO1170 corresponds with the nominal species. The second clade of BOLD: AEN8967, which, in addition to specimens from Corsica, includes two specimens from Asturias in Spain, probably represent an undescribed species. On the other hand, the COI sequences of T. laskai from Southeastern Europe together with a sequence of T. dowlingi Pešić, 2020 from Iran, forms the same MOTU indicating that populations from Southeastern Europe should be attributed to T. dowlingi (see Pešić et al. 2023c for discussion).