First record of Unionicola (Myanmaratax) savadiensis from India, with remarks on parasite-host relationship in unionicolid mites (Acari, Unionicolidae)

• Published in: Acarologia
• Main Authors: Chatterjee, Tapas, Khan, Ajaz Ali Ahmed, Singh, Ravail, Vidrine, Malcolm, Zawal, Andrzej, Pešić, Vladimir
• Other Authors: Near Hari Mandir Road, Hirapur, Dhanbad 826001, Jharkhand, India, CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu 180001, India, Division of Arts and Sciences, Louisiana State University Eunice, Eunice, LA 70535, USA, Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Limnology, West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin (ZUT)-Center of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Montenegro, Department of Biology, Cetinjski put bb, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Animalia; Arthropoda; Acari; mussel; mite; India; vagrant associations; parasitism; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Antarc*; Antarctica; Mite
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04283168; https://hal.science/hal-04283168/document; https://hal.science/hal-04283168/file/Acarologia-2023-63-1094-1101.pdf; https://doi.org/10.24349/lb8h-imel

International audience Freshwater mites of the family Unionicolidae are associated with freshwater mussels and snails in lakes and streams on all continents except Antarctica. The majority of the currently known 265 Unionicolidae species are associated with molluscs during at least one stage of their life cycle. A new host record is presented here from India: Unionicola (Myanamaratax) savadiensis from the host Lamellidens corrianus. In addition to L. corrianus, U. savadiensis was also found associated with two other mussel species, i.e., Lamellidens marginalis and Corbicula cashmiriensis, but DNA evidence confirms parasite-host association between U. (M.) savadiensis and L. corrianus, indicating that its findings in the two other mussel species should be considered as 'vagrant' associations. This report is thus significant for two reasons: (i) the record of the new host and geographic associations of the mite and mussels extends our knowledge on the known mite-mussels associations, and (ii) the study emphasized the importance of including experts from acarology, malacology, and molecular biology, to ascertain the nature of mite-mussel associations.