A new species of marine mite, Mictognathus colemani n. sp. (Acari: Halacaridae) from the Great Barrier Reef

Updated: 2017-11-20

A new species of marine mite, Mictognathus colemani n. sp., was described from the Great Barrier Reef. The male specimen was extracted from a sample of coral sand collected from the reef flat at Turner Cay on 8 December 1998. It is the third known species in its genus and the first species of Mictognathus known to occur in tropical waters. The key to the genus Mictognathus also includes Mictognathus secundus and Mictognathus werthelloides. This research was conducted as part of a survey of marine mites from northern Australia. The holotype specimen has been deposited at the Townsville branch of the Queensland Museum (Accession Number: QMS105562).