First record of Chelonuropoda in Peru , with the description of a new species ( Acari : Mesostigmata : Oplitidae )

A new Chelonuropoda species is discovered and described from Peru. The new species, C. peruensis sp. nov., is very similar to C. similibispirata Hirschmann & Zirngiebl-Nicol based on the shape of peritremes, but the dorsal and ventral setae situated in small rounded depression in the new species and these depressions are missing in C. similibispirata. Also, notes on intraspecific variation of the shape of peritremes and short zoogeographic comments are given.


Introduction
The genus Chelonuropoda was established by Sellnick (1954) for the species Chelonuropoda bispirata Sellnick, 1954 collected in Brazil, described on the basis of nymphs and adults.Ten years later, Hirschmann & Zirngiebl-Nicol (1964) transferred the species to the genus Oplitis Berlese, 1884 based on the shape of the internal malae.Later, Hirschmann (1991) the earlier mentioned "C.bispirata" species (Hirschmann & Zirngiebl-Nicol 1964) described as a new one (Oplitis nicolae Hirschmann, 1991).In the same work, he created a new species group for these species as Oplitis bispirata-group.Besides these taxonomical actions, Hirschmann & Zirngiebl-Nicol (1973a, b) described two other new species (Oplitis athiasae and Oplitis similibispirata).Recently, Kontschán (2006Kontschán ( , 2009a) ) resurrected the genus Chelonuropoda and described two new species from Angola (C.cheloniforma Kontschán, 2006) and Kenya (C. africana Kontschan, 2009).Kontschán & Starỳ (2012) gave a new diagnosis for the genus, summarized all knowledge about the Chelonuropoda species, discovered and described new species from Madagascar, Ivory Coast and Brazil, and presented a new key to the known Chelonuropoda species.
During the survey of the Peruvian Uropodina we found an unusual Chelonuropoda species which is described herein.

Chelonuropoda peruesis sp. nov. (Figs 1-16).
Material examined.Holotype.Female.Peru, Deptartamento de Huánuco, Rio Yuyapichis, ACP Panguana, 9°37'S, 74°56'W, 230-260m, 23.IV.-09.V.2016., leg.S. Friedrich, F. Wachtel & D. Hauth (deposited in MUSM).Paratype.Three males and one female with same data as holotype,two males deposited in MUSM, one female and one male in ZSM.Description.Female.Length of idiosoma 1190-1200, width 760-800 (n = 2).Shape oval, posterior margin rounded.Dorsal side (Fig. 1).Dorsal and marginal shields fused close to anterior margin.Anterior region of marginal shield wide, bearing short, smooth, needle-like setae (ca 30-38) on its surface and wide and phylliform setae (ca 32-43) on its margins (Fig. 3).All dorsal setae smooth, needle-like and very long (ca 85-130), apically very narrow and often curved.They placed in small, rounded depressions usually in association with short and setae-like sensory organs.Metapodal region each with deep transversal furrow bordered with two rows of phylliform setae (ca 80-95) posterior to coxae IV.One pair of short (ca 15-17) and needle-like adanal setae (ad) situated posterior to anal opening.Other adanal and postanal setae absent.One pair of lyriform poroids situated anterior to adanal setae (Fig. 5).Stigmata situated between coxae II and III.Peritremes mushroom-shaped with an accessory loop, but level of intraspecific variability very high .Genital shield wide (315-320 long and 230-240 wide), linguliform, with small, oval pits ordered in two groups on its surface and without anterior process.Tritosternum with wide, quadrangular basis; laciniae with three, marginally pilose branches, central one longer than other two (Fig. 6).Legs (Figs 7-10).All segments with simple and smooth setae and a pair of claws at the tip of the ambulacral prolongation.Claws of leg I smaller than on others, flap-like prolongation visible on femora of leg I-IV.Length of legs (from the basis of coxae to the tip of tarsi): leg I 490-500, leg II 515-520, leg III 450-460, leg IV 490-500.Gnathosoma (Fig. 6).Corniculi horn-like, laciniae with several smooth and long branches.Hypostomal setae h1 smooth (ca 42-44), h2 (ca 72-78) apically, h3 (ca 92-100) and h4 (ca 19-23 μm) marginally serrate.Palp trochanter with one short smooth seta and one long, marginally serrate seta.Epistome triangular and apically pilose, chelicerae with one tooth on movable digit and four teeth on the fixed digit, internal sclerotized node absent, one dorsal seta present.Etymology.The name of the new species refers to the country where it was collected.Notes.On the basis of the shape of peritremes (mushroom-shaped with and accessory loop), the new species is similar to the C. similibispirata from Bolivia, but the dorsal and ventral setae are not situated in small rounded depressions, contrary with the new one.

Discussion
The genus Chelonuropoda seems to be an amphiatlantic, because the species of this genus occur only in Afrotropical and Neotropical regions (Kontschán & Starỳ 2012).Regarding this distribution type of the genus Chelonuropoda, this genus must have developed during a geological period when the African and the South America land masses were connected, before the breaking up of Gondwanaland.This connection continued until the Upper Cretaceous; hence we need to suppose this genus originated during this geological period.
The shape of peritremes is very variable within the genus Chelonuropoda, till today several shapes of peritremes were observed in different species, like: bent-shaped, hairpin-shaped, R and P-shaped and mushroom shaped.The current new species has mushroom shaped peritremes with accessory loop and has the basic type (Fig. 11) of peritremes in very wide scale, short accessory dorsal branch (Fig. 12), asymmetric dorsal part (Fig. 13) or rectangular accessory loop (Fig. 14) were observed with this species, and the shapes of two peritremes in same species were also different (Figs 14-15).
(Fig 4).Two strongly sclerotized O-shaped rings present on posterolateral areas of dorsal shield and wide lateral incisions situated posterior to O-shaped rings at margin of dorsal shield.Ventral side (Fig.2).Sternal and ventral shields without sculptural pattern, nine pairs of sternal setae smooth, needle-like.St1 and St2 short (ca 21-23), St3 longer (ca 40-45), other sternal setae very long (ca 75-90).St1 Situated close to anterior margin of sternal shield, St2 close to anterior margin of genital shield, St3 and St4 at level of anterior margin of coxae III, St5 at level of central area of coxae III, St6, St7 and St8 at level of anterior margin of coxae IV and St9 at level of posterior margin of coxae IV.One pair of lyriform poroids situated close to St6, St7 and St8.Ventral setae smooth, needle-like, very long (ca 90-115), apically very narrow and placed in small rounded depressions in association with short and setae-like sensory organs.