Soldanellonyx monardi Walter, 1919

Bartsch, Ilse, 2018, Freshwater halacarid mites (Acari: Halacaridae) from Madagascar - new records, keys and notes on distribution and biology, Bonn zoological Bulletin 67 (2), pp. 79-99 : 94-95

Soldanellonyx monardi Walter, 1919

S. monardi Walter, 1919b: 238–241 , fig. 4–7.

S. monardi, Green & MacQuitty 1987: 156 , fig. 65A–C; Bartsch 2006: 142, 143, fig. 5-19a–f, 2007: 82, 83, fig. 3, 2011: 502, fig. 11A–C, 2014a: 167–169, fig. 2A– K.

S. monardi sarangaensis Viets, 1929: 32–34 , fig. 5–7(a, b).

Subspecies of uncertain position but expected to belong

to S. monardi are:

S. monardi hyogoensis Imamura, 1981: 292 (described in Imamura 1959: 56, 57, fig. 2a–e).

S. monardi japonicus Imamura, 1971: 334–336 , figs 2a– c, 3a–d.

Collecting data. Central Madagascar, Antananarivo, Anjazorobe, River Ranonisoanavola (larger stream E from main mountain chain), 1200 m asl, 13.2°C, 0.058 mS/ cm, interstitial, 23 Jul. 2001 ( MD 012 ) . – South-eastern Madagascar, Fianarantsoa, Andrambovato , stream 3 km E from the village, upstream from the cascade, 900 m, 20 Aug. 2001 ( MD 038 ) . – Southern Madagascar, Tulear, Tsimelahy River Antarantsa , ca 1 km upstream from village, 300 m, 20.4°C, 0.171mS/cm, interstitial, 04 Sep. 2001 ( MD 058 ) . – Central Madagascar, Antananarivo, Ankaratra, Reserve Manjakatompo , left afflu- ent of River Mahiavona , EM Mantsina, 1750 m, 14.1°C, 0.003 ms/cm, interstitial, 08 Oct. 2001 ( MD 107 ) .

Short description ( Fig. 10A–G ). Female: Length 270–335 µm [8]. With faint spots of brown eye pigment in anteromedian part of AD and anterior part of OC ( Fig. 10A ). AD, OC and PD with reticulate ornamentation, reticulation most distinct within pair of faint costae of PD. Pairs of glp-1 to glp-5 and ds-1 to ds-4 as illustrat- ed, ds-5 lacking, ds-6 on anal cone. Delicate punctation of ventral plates presenting reticulate pattern. AE, PE and GP separated. AE with pair of epimeral pores ( Fig. 10B ). Each PE with one ventral and lateral but no dorsal seta. Gnathosoma somewhat wider than long ( Fig. 10D ). Pair of palps attached dorsally, distance between P-1 less than their width ( Fig. 10C ). P-2 somewhat flattened, length 1.3 times the height ( Fig. 10E ); basal seta on P-2 short; spiniform, distal seta long and slender. P-3 with large medial spine, its length 0.9 of that of P-3. P-4 ending with a similar wide spine. Legs shorter than idiosoma, length of legs I and IV about 0.6 and 0.7 times that of idiosoma, respectively. Length of telofemur I 1.5 times the height. In addition to long, slender setae, telofemur, genu and tibia of leg I with 2, 2 and 1 short and spiniform dorsal setae and 0, 2, 2 long ventral spines, respectively. Pair of ventral spines on genu I distinctly, on tibia I faintly bipectinate. Claws I with solid, mushroom-like arranged tines ( Fig. 10F ), tines on claws on following tarsi in J-shaped arrangement.

Male: Not present.

Juveniles: Length of deuto-, protonymphs and larvae 205–285 [8], 180–255 [7] and 143–148 µm [2], respectively.

Biology. Of eight females studied six held eggs. Size of eggs 10 x 10 to 40 x 45 µm (length x diameter). If present, the excretory material is in form of small, brown globuli. These are concentrated within a rod-like structure ( Fig. 10G ).

Remarks. Soldanellonyx monardi is presently the only Soldanellonyx species recorded from the Afrotropics. Soldanellonyx chappuisi Walter, 1917 and S. visurgis Viets, 1959 , as S. monardi reported from several continents, have as yet not been taken but are expected to be found in future studies in Africa or the Afrotropical region. Soldanellonyx chappuisi and S. visurgis have, in contrast to S. monardi , more slender telofemora I (length more than 1.5 times the height), four ventral bristles or spines on tibia I (versus two), more slender and longer P-2 (length more than twice the height) and the two dorsal setae on P-2 are similar-sized (versus basal seta less than half the length of distal seta). In addition, no epimeral pores are seen in S. chappuisi and S. visurgis but these are present in S. monardi .

Another six Soldanellonyx species are described, one species has been collected in both southern Japan and Kamchatka, each one of the others from a single ge- ographical region, four from Japan, one from the Lake Baikal.

In Soldanellonyx monardi , as also in S. chappuisi and S. visurgis , males are extremely rare or absent. Those recorded by Sokolov (1952), Efford (1959) and Imamura (1981) need confirmation. The author expects the males of S. monardi to differ from females by a high number (>20) of pgs arranged around the GO and, of course, the presence of the spermatopositor. Slight differences in the outline of the GA, as described by Sokolov (1952) and Imamura (1981), are commonly found in females. Sokolov (1952: fig. 91,4) presented an illustration of a male GA with a slightly larger number of genital acetabula (11–12 pairs) and pgs (5–6 pairs) but else similar to that of females, the typical spermatopositor is not illustrated. Imamura (1981) described the ‘penis skeleton’ as having four hook-shaped claws; the number of the genital acetabula is similar to that of females. Hook-shaped claws on the spermatopositor are else unknown in halacarid males and those mentioned by Imamura (1981) may represent the genital spines of an ovipositor. Efford (1959) did not present any morphological details.

Geographical distribution ( Fig. 11 ) (of S. monardi

and its subspecies) ( Fig. 8 ) ( Bartsch 2008a, 2011, 2014a;

Tolstikov et al. 2005; Pešić et al. 2010; Stolbov et al.

2018; Pepato & da Silva Conceição, in press):

Afrotropical Region. – Kenya – Madagascar;

Palaearctic Region. Europe: – Austria – Belgium – Unit- ed Kingdom ( England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales) – Bulgaria – Crimea – Croatia – Denmark – Faeroerne – Finland – France – Germany – Hungary – Iceland – Italy – Luxemburg – Macedonia – Monte Negro – Portugal – Romania – Russia (Karelia, Kola Peninsula, Lake Onega) – Switzerland – Spain – Sweden – The Netherlands. Northern Africa: – Tunisia. Asia: – Japan – Russia (Kamchatka, Tyumen region);

Oriental Region. – Indonesia (Java) – Vietnam;

Australian Region. – Australia (New South Wales, Queensland). – New Zealand (North Island);

Pacific Islands. – Hawaiian Islands;

Nearctic Region. – Canada (British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario, Quebec). – United States (Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia). The Soldanellonyx species, by Vinke (2013) mentioned from the Northwest Territories ( Canada), may belong to S. monardi (in Fig. 11 marked by a question mark);

Neotropical Region. – Brazil (Sao Paulo) – Chile (Magallanes) – Falkland Islands ( Malvinas).

Figures

Fig. 10A–G. Soldanellonyx monardi Walter, 1919. A. idiosoma, dorsal, female; B. idiosoma, ventral, female; C. part of gnathosomal base with P-1, P-2 and P-3, female; D. gnathosoma, ventral, female; E. gnathosoma, lateral, female; F.leg I, ventromedial, female; G. idiosoma, dorsal, protonymph. (Scale = 50 µm) (aps, apical seta on second palpal segment; ascl, anal sclerite; bs, basal seta on second palpal segment; ep, epimeral pore; exb, excretory bar; eyp, eye pigment; mxs-1, basal maxillary seta; P-1, P-2, P-3, first, second and third palpal segment).

Fig. 11. Records of Soldanellonyx monardi Walter, 1919.

Fig. 8A–G. Ropohalacarus pallidus Bartsch, 2013.A. idiosoma, dorsal, female; B. idiosoma, ventral, female; C. gnathosoma, ventral, female; D. leg I, medial, female; E. idiosoma and gnathosoma, ventral, protonymph; F. idiosoma, ventral, deutonymph, G. leg III, lateral, larva. (Scale = 50 µm) (pgs, perigenital seta(e); P-1, first palpal segment; III-1, III-2+3, III-4, III-5, III-6, trochanter, femur, genu, tibia and tarsus of leg III).