Oribatid mites (Acari: Oribatida) from the coastal region of Portugal. II.

Abstract

Two known species of the genus Zachvatkinibates were found in marine salt-marshes of Portugal and are redescribed in this paper. Zachvatkinibates quadrivertex (Halbert, 1920) is distributed in the lower tidal level of salt marshes from northern to southern Portugal. Up to now only known from the type locality of the sea shore of Croatia, Z. eoeryi (Mahunka, 1972) was found in the Lagoon of Faro, inhabiting predominantly marine littoral debris. A new halophilous species, Punctoribates aveiroensis sp. nov. is described from the marine salt meadows in the upper tidal level in the Lagoon of Aveiro. These three mycobatid species differ in their ecological preferences within the marine salt marshes, nevertheless Z. quadrivertex is syntopic with Z. eoeryi in the Lagoon of Faro and with P. aveiroensis sp. nov. in the Lagoon of Aveiro.

Keywords

• taxonomy
• systematics
• Mycobatidae
• salt-marsh fauna