FRESHWATER HALACARID MITES (ACARI: HALACARIDAE) FROM MADAGASCAR. NEW RECORDS AND THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES

In recent years the numbers of aquatic mite species from Madagascar has increased considerably (Gerecke 2004a, b, 2006, 2009; Goldschmidt 2008; Tuzovski and Gerecke 2009), but the area is still a white spot with respect to knowledge of its freshwater halacarid (Halacaridae) fauna. Recently, some halacarid specimens were extracted from sandy deposits of the banks of streams and creeks. These samples included four species, namely Limnohalacarus cultellatus Viets, 1940, Limnohalacarus novus Bartsch, 2013, Lobohalacarus weberi (Romijn and Viets, 1924), and a new species of the genus Ropohalacarus. The new species, Ropohalacarus pallidus n. sp., is described, and the characters of the other species are outlined. The three genera collected in Madagascar are cosmopolitan and the Lobohalacarus and Limnohalacarus species are wide-spread. The halacarid fauna of Madagascar seems to be poor in endemic species, which is contrary to the situation for the freshwater Hydrachnidia mites. Future studies will certainly increase the number of halacarid species but not the percentage of endemics.