Evidence of cryptic speciation in the Hygrobates calliger complex (Acariformes, Hydrachnidia, Hygrobatidae) with the description of two new species

Abstract

Hygrobates specimens with a coarse lineated soft integument generally have been considered as representatives of H. calliger Piersig, 1896, regarded as a common and widely distributed species in the Palaearctic. In the present study using an integrative taxonomic approach that combines morphological studies and DNA barcoding we show that Hygrobates calliger-like mites belong to six distinct lineages. Two species, Hygrobates ponticus sp. nov. (East Türkiye, Georgia) and H. tyrrhenicus sp. nov. (Corsica) are described as new to science.