Special Issue, p. 44-47
Doi: https://doi.org/10.32435/envsmoke/xibesymp.7
Environmental Smoke, e-ISSN: 2595-5527
“A leading multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal”
Conference Paper from the X Iberian Symposium on the Hydrographic Minho River Basin (“X Simpósio Ibérico sobre a Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Minho”)
Harold Cantallo1* (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7005-6462); Nuno Gomes1,2 (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5513-6875); Carlos Antunes1,2 (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3736-5743); Tiago Ribeiro1 (https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6043-4183); Maria Inês Gomes1 (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2949-4994); Dimítri de Araújo Costa1,2 (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5399-2483)
1Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto, Portugal.
2Aquamuseu do Rio Minho, Vila Nova de Cerveira, 4920-290, Portugal.
*Corresponding author: haroldcantallo.hcc@gmail.com
Submitted on: 3 Dec. 2021
Accepted on: 19 Dec. 2021
Published on: 31 Dec. 2021
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Acari are a subclass of chelicerate arthropods that includes mites and ticks. The present study focuses on the taxonomic diversity of aquatic mites in the Portuguese territory of the Minho Region. Our aim was to compile all available information and thus generate a list of species linking them to the site where they were recorded. Aquatic species were all those that live exclusively in the marine environment, deep sea, intertidal, freshwater, brackish water or in transitional environments with the terrestrial environment if their lifestyle is associated with the aquatic environment. Since the first records of Portuguese endemic mites by Lunblad in the 1950s several authors have contributed to accurately catalogue, record, and redescribe this vast group in Portugal and Minho consecutively. In our review in this work, we used the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to obtain previous occurrences supplemented by an extensive literature review and the book collection Süßwasserfauna von Mitteleuropa, among others. Additionally, we resorted to active sampling and by-catch sampling in the Portuguese section of the Rio Minho catchment area. The collected organisms represent 12 new records for the Minho River and among them 10 are new records for Portugal, which were deposited in the Natural History Museum of the Iberian Peninsula - NatMIP (“Museu de História Natural da Península Ibérica”), Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal.
Keywords: Acari. Taxonomy. Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone. North Atlantic Ocean.
1 Introduction
Aquatic mites in Portuguese territory had been studied since long time with the first observations of endemic species made by O. Lundblad in the 50’s decade in the Madeiran and Azores archipelago (LUNDBLAD, 1956) and previously with the observations made by THOR, (1898) and KOENIKE, (1895).
Despite the efforts made by more recent authors like VALDECASAS, (1988) and BARTSCH, (1978b, 1978a, 1988, 1996) it remains poorly characterized and disbalanced relatively to the effort in characterize brackish and marine mites.
Mites in general are a taxonomic group with associated difficulties to identify due the disperse available literature and their reduced dimensions.
2 Material and Methods
Sampled aquatic mites from International Minho River, Portugal (Fig. 1), were collected from dissected guts of European flounder Platichthys flesus (Linnaeus, 1758) from beam trawls in October 2019 from (41º56’18.852”N, 8º45’2.52”W to 41º56’12.768”N, 8º45’9.108”W), and June 2020 from (41°59’29.76”N, 8°40’38.76”W to 41º59’27”N, 8º40’50.76”W).
Figure 1. Schematic sampling sites in the Minho River (NW Iberian Peninsula) and some sites where aquatic mites were accurately recorded in previous works in the Minho region.
Access on: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BravKzjBTaAq-4hZKT8jPZx3NWDok2mp/preview.
Also, by using Van Veen grab sampler on September 2020 at Morraceira das Varandas Island (41º54’36.7”N, 8º49’4.49”W), Lovelhe (41º57’2.39”N, 8º44’51.5”W), São Pedro da Torre (41º59’42.05”N, 8º40’27.94”W), and Valença municipality (42º2’57.01”N, 8º37’54.74”W).
Lastly, by using hand-net at the tributary Rio Mouro from Ponte do Curto (42º4’29.27”N, 8º23’39.12”W), Ponte de Mouro (42°04’30.0”N, 8°23’38.5”W), and Rio Gadanha (42º2´14.7´´N, 8º30´6.9´´W).
Sampled specimens complemented an exhaustive literature review using the available literature and the book collecction Süßwasserfauna von Mitteleuropa: Acari Volumes 1 to 3 as baseline. This book collection also served as main tool for taxonomic identification with relevant ecological notes.
Collected organisms were deposited in the Natural History Museum of the Iberian Peninsula - NatMIP (“Museu de História Natural da Península Ibérica”), Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal.
3 Results
A total of 12 species were reported for the Minho River, with 10 of those species being identified as new records while 2 had been previously reported over the remaining territory (Fig. 2).
Figure 2. Plate showing the generic appearance of the 12 species sampled on the Minho International River, including a) Lebertia (Eolebertia) elsteri, b) Lebertia (Pilolebertia) pilosa, c) Sperchon (Sperchon) thienemanni, d) Torrenticola (Megapalpis) fagei, e) Hydrozetes lemnae, f) Hydrozetes confervae, g) Lebertia (Lebertia) lusitanica, h) Sperchonopsis verrucosa, i) Lebertia (Mixolebertia) halberti, j) Lebertia (Lebertia) oblonga, k) Hygrobates (Hygrobates) setosus, l) Torrenticola (Torrenticola) anomala.
Access on: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c9euNJl-XWNDfDpdI37hqZFIAxQuxZM-/preview.
These records include the following 12 species restricted to freshwater environment:
Hydrozetes confervae (Schrank, 1781)
Ecological notes: On lakes, ponds and slow moving waters, as well as associated with duckweed (Lemna spp.) (BARTSCH et al., 2006). At this study, this species may represent the first record found in a main river stretch (International Minho River).
Hydrozetes lemnae (Coggi, 1899)
Ecological notes: Freshwater, feeding on submerged plant fragments (PÉREZ-ÍÑIGO, 1997). Associated with macrophytes.
Hygrobates (Hygrobates) setosus (Besseling, 1942)
Ecological notes: On freshwater tributaries pools; with parasitic larvae of insect-dipterans (GERECKE et al., 2016). In present study, this species was found in association with macrophytes (“Rio Gadanha”). One specimen was found on rock environment close to the spring (“Rio Mouro”). One individual was collected in the main sector from Minho River, on sediment type ‘moderately sorted coarse sand’, in which logarithmic main grain size value was 0.345.
Lebertia (Eolebertia) elsteri Schwoerbel, 1957
Ecological notes: Interstitial on springs and streams (SABATINO et al., 2010). In this study, one individual was collected in the main sector from Minho River, on moderately sorted medium sand.
Lebertia (Lebertia) oblonga Koenike, 1911
Ecological notes: On sandy bottom of streams and lakes (SABATINO et al., 2010).
Lebertia (Lebertia) lusitanica Lundblad, 1956
Ecological notes: Found on cascade staircase (LUNDBLAD, 1956). Possibly rhithrobiont-like (on river and tributaries habitats) species (SABATINO et al., 2010). In this study, two individuals were collected in the main sector from Minho River, on moderately sorted coarse sand.
Lebertia (Mixolebertia) halberti Koenike, 1902
Ecological notes: On standing waters (SABATINO et al., 2010). In this study, one individual was collected in the main sector from Minho River, on moderately sorted coarse sand.
Lebertia (Pilolebertia) pilosa Maglio, 1924
Ecological notes: On lakes and rivers (SABATINO et al., 2010). In this study, one individual was collected in the main sector from Minho River, on moderately sorted coarse sand.
Sperchon (Sperchon) thienemanni Koenike, 1907
Ecological notes: Freshwater, common in rheohelocrenes springs, with crenophilous-type habit; larvae parasites of chironomids (SABATINO et al., 2010).
Sperchonopsis verrucosa (Protz, 1896)
Ecological notes: On muddy sediment in streams, feeds on chironomid larvae (SABATINO et al., 2010). Associated with macrophytes.
Torrenticola (Megapalpis) fagei (Angelier, 1949)
Ecological notes: On low order streams in montane areas (SABATINO et al., 2010), with second larval form - deutonymph (ANGELIER, 1949). In this study, one individual was collected in the main sector from Minho River, on moderately sorted coarse sand.
Torrenticola (Torrenticola) anomala (Koch, 1837)
Ecological notes: On middle order streams, with the ability to withstand a wide range of temperatures - eurythermal species; deutonymph stage larval present (SABATINO et al., 2010).
4 Discussion
Hydrarachids are known to inhabit watercourses and lentic environments such as lakes or ponds. Trombidiformes are a heterogeneous group, as they also include several marine species, members of the family Halacaridae. Additionally, we have the presence of Sarcoptiformes such as the oribatids described by Weigmann in previous works (WEIGMANN, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), also occurring in the Minho region.
These results suggest a high prevalence of freshwater and transition species in the Portuguese territory, which may indicate a trend, as they are more accessible than marine species.
5 Conclusions
The present work reports the presence of aquatic mites in the Minho International River. This region is especially rich in aquatic mite species, providing 12 new records in just a few samples. However, we believe that there is much work ahead to characterise the aquatic mite fauna of this region. New starting points could be the association of aquatic mites with the invasive macrophyte Egeria densa Planchon, 1849 and a better characterisation of the fauna associated with the intertidal zone.
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