<strong>A new crenobiontic water mite species of the genus <em>Atractides</em> Koch, 1837 from Montenegro and Bulgaria, based on morphological and molecular data (Acariformes, Hydrachnidia, Hygrobatidae)</strong>

Abstract

A new species of water mites from Montenegro and Bulgaria, Atractides anae Pešić sp. nov., is described, combining traditional morphological techniques with the analysis of partial mtDNA COI sequences (DNA-barcodes). Based on our molecular and morphological analysis, the new species is most closely related to the crenobiontic A. pennatus (K. Viets 1920) from which it differs by 6.4 (SD = 1.12)% K2P distance. A dataset including the novel COI sequences of 10 Atractides species from Montenegro and Iran is assembled in order to facilitate further studies on the genus by using molecular tools.