Volume: 2, 2023
2nd International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland:
ENVIRONMENT – PLANT – ANIMAL – PRODUCT
Abstract number: A014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL2.A014
Published online: 19 April 2023
ICDSUPL, 2, A014 (2023)
First record of tydeid mites (Acari: Tydeoidea) from littoral zone
Ronald Łaniecki1*, Andrzej Kaźmierski2, Andrzej S. Rybak3, Wojciech Ł. Magowski1
1 Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University; Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-714, Poznan, Poland
2 Department of Animal Morphology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University; Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-714, Poznan, Poland
3 Department of Hydrobiology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Uniwersytetu Poznanskiego 6, 61-714 Poznan, Poland
* Corresponding author: ronlaniecki@gmail.com
Abstract
The intertidal marine zone constitutes a harsh environment that changes its parameters perpetually. However, some groups of mites (Acari) managed to adapt to living in coastal habitats. Among them are representatives of the suborders Mesostigmata, Oribatida and Prostigmata, with the latter comprising families Bdellidae, Rhagidiidae and Erythraeidae. Prostigmatic family Tydeidae was never recorded from the littoral zone before. The study was aimed at examination of prostigmatic mite fauna inhabiting macroalgae in the littoral zone. Samples of various species of macroalgae were collected from marine intertidal zone in two European localities: Gdynia, Poland and Vela Luka, Korčula, Croatia during summer 2022. The fauna was extracted using Tullgren-Berlese funnels for 7–10 days. Then specimens were mounted on microscopic slides, observed under phase contrast microscope and species identities were established. Photographs were shot using a digital SLR camera attached to the differential interference contrast microscope. Populations of two species of terrestrial mites from the family Tydeidae were found on macroalgae at the seashore, in two distant localities. Lorryia exiguelitterata (Momen et Lundqist, 1995) was recorded from Gdynia, Poland, on Ulva intestinalis L. and Lorryia reticulata Oudemans, 1928 was recorded from Vela Luka, Korčula, Croatia, on Rivularia bullata Berkeley ex Bornet & Flahault. Furthermore, along the former species three other mites (Eupalopsellidae, Tarsonemidae and Oribatida), one crustacean (Tanaidacea), six bivalves and two insects were found in the sample. Up till present there was no data on the occurrence of tydeid mites in intertidal zone. Only representatives of Lorryia serpettae (Momen et Lundqist, 2005) were collected from mosses on the ground and on the stones, near the seashore. The two records reported here concern entire populations inhabiting algae distributed immediately at the seashore, very likely to be often inundated by salty seawater. The results seem to demonstrate that Tydeidae may be facultatively halophilic. More data on occurrence and biology of tydeid mites on macroalgae must be collected in the future to better understand their role in littoral microhabitats.
How to cite
R. Łaniecki, A. Kaźmierski, A.S. Rybak, W.Ł. Magowski, 2023. First record of tydeid mites (Acari: Tydeoidea) from littoral zone. In: 2nd International PhD Student’s Conference at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Poland: Environment – Plant – Animal – Product. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICDSUPL2.A014