A new mite superfamily Cloacaroidea and its position within the Prostigmata (Acariformes) |
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Authors: | Bochkov Andre V O'Connor Barry M |
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Affiliation: | Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb., St. Petersburg 199034, Russia. prostigmata@zin.ru |
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Abstract: | The external morphology of 2 closely related mite families, Cloacaridae and Epimyodicidae (Acari: Prostigmata), comprising highly specialized endoparasites of vertebrates, is analyzed. These mites exhibit strong regression of many structures ancestrally present in other Prostigmata as a consequence of their endoparasitic mode of life. The relationships of these 2 families with other taxa in the infraorder Eleutherengona are still not clear. Our reinterpretation of the chelicerae as unfused precludes inclusion of this lineage in the Cheyletoidea as proposed previously. A new superfamily, Cloacaroidea superfam, nov., incertae sedis, within the infraorder Eleutherengona is established for these 2 families, and their host-parasite relationships are briefly discussed. A new cloacarid species, Caminacarus dawsoni n. sp., from Graptemys pseudogeographica (Testudines: Emydidae) from the United States is also described. |
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