Almir Rogério Pepato

• PhD
• Federal University of Minas Gerais

The biogeographic division of the Brazilian coast has been subject of debates, with alternative hypotheses proposing different borders between provinces or ecoregions. To test these hypotheses, we used halacarid mites, a common component of marine meiofauna, well suited for this task due to their low mobility and absence of a planktonic dispersal s...

Acariform mites play a crucial role as primary soil decomposers, impacting the carbon cycle. However, the timing of their diversification is uncertain, with estimated dates ranging from the Precambrian (no land plants) to the Carboniferous (diverse terrestrial ecosystems). One factor affecting these time estimates is an uncertain phylogenetic posit...

The mite Thyreophagus entomophagus is a cosmopolitan species of significant economic importance in biocontrol applications, serving as a factitious prey for the mass rearing of predatory mites. This species has been reported from a variety of habitats. However, the taxonomic reliability of its name is questionable due to inconsistencies in historic...

Halacarid mites are a diversified secondarily marine clade comprising more than one thousand species. Despite recent progress, it may be regarded as a neglected group of animals in Brazil, with only 36 species reported from Brazilian coastline, 26 of them from São Paulo State, belonging to 12 genera. Original description and records included materi...

Fernando Amaral da Silveira (1960-2022) was one of the most important bee taxonomists and systematists, with work of global relevance, even though he left early, at just 62 years old. Among his many achievements, he dedicated much of his energy and enthusiasm to the maintenance of Lundiana: International Journal of Biodiversity. Therefore, we consi...

A new sexual species, Thyreophagus subiasi sp. nov., inhabiting wet sands of the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea (Republic of Dagestan, Russia) is described. The new species is morphologically similar to Th. athiasae from Morocco (types redescribed here as well) but differs from it by the shape of the spermatheca and setae p and q on tarsi I-II rep...

Two new Clathrosperchon (Rhynchohydracaridae: Hydryphantoidea) species were described (Clathrosperchon nunesae sp. nov. and C. bitucai sp. nov.) and tabular and dichotoumous keys to the known Clathrosperchon species based on adults are provided. In addition, the phylogenetic placement of Rhynchohydracaridae was inferred using five molecular markers...

Biogeographic division of the Brazilian coast has been the subject of debates, with alternative hypotheses proposing different borders between provinces or ecoregions. To test these hypotheses, we used halacarid mites, a common component of marine meiofauna, well-suited for this task due to their lack of a planktonic dispersal stage. We sequenced o...

Parasitengona (velvet mites, chiggers and water mites) is a highly diverse and globally distributed mite lineage encompassing over 11,000 described species, inhabiting terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. Certain species, such as chiggers (Trombiculidae), have a great medical and veterinary importance as they feed on their vertebrate hosts...

Four new chigger species, belonging to genera Leeuwenhoekia Oudemans, 1911 (Leeuwenhoekiidae), Colicus Brennan 1970, and Herpetacarus (Vercammen-Grandjean 1960) (Trombiculidae), are described, based on specimens deposited in the Acarological collection at Centro de Coleções Taxonômicas da UFMG, including voucher material for which sequences from mu...

The family Spinturnicidae (Oudemans, 1902) comprises hematophagous mites found exclusively on bats. In this article, we present DNA barcodes (mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase I) for 71 specimens morphologically assigned to six spinturnicid species from 34 bat specimens (11 species) obtained from 10 caves and one forest fragment in karst areas fro...

Parasitengona is a diverse group of Prostigmata, including mites with life cycles that include important morphological changes between larva and deutonymph, an evolutionary novelty not shared by its closely related taxa (Halacaridae, Pezidade or Anystidae). Allotanaupodoidea is a superfamily of Parasitengona, known solely by the post-larval instars...

In host-symbiont systems, interspecific transmissions create opportunities for host switches, potentially leading to cophylogenetic incongruence. In contrast, conspecific transmissions often result in high host specificity and congruent cophylogenies. In most bird-feather mite systems, conspecific transmission is considered dominant, while interspe...

Two new species, Newellia xakriaba sp. nov. and Centrotrombidium krenak sp. nov. (Trombidiformes: Parasitengona: Johnstonianidae) from Brazilian caves, are described based on vouchering material for which sequences from multiple genes are available. This article expands the geographical range of the genus Newellia André, 1962 known previously only...

For the first time deutonymphs and adults (females and males) of species belonging to Whartonia, a genus with post-larval stages commonly found in caves and larvae as ectoparasites of bats, are described. Two species from new localities in states of Pará (Eastern Amazon) and Minas Gerais (southeastern Brazil) are reported. Post-larval cave dwelling...

Here, we describe a new smaridid species, Smaris hajiqanbari sp. n., based on the larva. This is the first description of a Smaris species from Brazil and the fourth larval Smaris ever described. An identification key to larval Smaris is also provided.

A previous study found that the division between the Southwestern Atlantic Tropical and Warm Temperate Provinces for marine mites do not occur in Cabo Frio (~23°S), as usually assumed in marine biogeographical studies, but somewhere around the Abrolhos Plateau and the Vitória-Trindade Chain (~20-15°S). New sampling localities along this section of...

Recent years have witnessed an increasing availability of DNA sequence data from acariform mites. However, compared to Hexapoda, a clade to which the mite diversity rivals, the amount of acariform molecular data estimated in cells in supermatrix alignments (Fig. 1) is lagging behind by approximately one decade, since insect datasets reached 107 cel...

http://editorarupestre.com.br/dados/arquivo/2/arquivo/fauna_cavernicola_do_Brasil.pdf

Acariform mites are an ancient and megadiverse lineage that may have experienced a complex pattern of invasions into terrestrial and aquatic habitats. These among-realm transitions may relate to periods of turmoil in Earth’s history or be simply results of uneven biodiversity patterns across habitats. Here, we inferred a dated, representative acari...

The Indian Ocean has a complex geological history that has drawn the attention of naturalists for almost a century now. Due to its tectonic history, many geological elements and processes have been evoked to explain the exchange of species between landmasses. Here, we revisited previous studies on twenty-three taxa to investigate trends across time...

The Indian Ocean has a complex geological history that has drawn the attention of naturalists for almost a century now. Due to its tectonic history, many geological elements and processes have been evoked to explain the exchange of species between landmasses. Here, we revisited previous studies on twenty-three taxa to investigate trends across time...

A new genus and a new species of macronyssid mites is described based on material collected from caves in Minas Gerais state, Southeastern Brazil, and additional occurrences from caves in Rio de Janeiro (Southeast) and Pará (Eastern Amazon region). The new genus may be distinguished from other Macronyssidae genera by the combination of sternal shie...

Unlike most terrestrial parasitengone mites (chiggers, erythraeids), known mostly from parasitic and easy-to-collect larvae, smaridid systematics are mainly based on the post larval instar. Larvae are rarely collected, and their biology and host associations are virtually unknown. Here we infer phylogenetic relationships of Smarididae based on 50 m...

A new species belonging to the genus Uroseius Berlese, 1888 (Trachytidae, Mesostigmata) is described based on the morphological characters of three females and one male collected from caves in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The new species differs from other Neotropical species in having two shapes of idiosomatic ventral and dorsal setae, a character...

Even after almost 30 years of Limnoperna fortunei introduction into South America, it is still unclear how the source and propagules are connected. Here, we present genetic evidence of population connectivity and gene flow of L. fortunei propagules from Asia into South America, proposing the main invasion routes into South America. To achieve that...

Even after almost 30 years of Limnoperna fortunei introduction into South America, it is still unclear 18 how the source and propagules are connected. Here, we present genetic evidence of population connectivity and 19 gene flow of L. fortunei propagules from Asia into South America, proposing the main invasion routes into South 20 America. To achi...

In this chapter we present an updated taxonomic review of the inland water members of the phylum Arthropoda, which includes the Chelicerata (mites and spiders), Myriapoda (aquatic millipedes), and Crustacea (crustaceans, apterygotans, and insects). The Chelicerata are covered most extensively in this chapter, while Neotropical insects (now within t...

The life cycle of Parasitengona includes major morphological changes precluding an instar association based only on the morphology. This makes rearing and/or molecular data necessary to associate the heteromorphic instars. Most of the described species are known from either post larval instars or larva. Following a previous study on Palearctic Eryt...

Aim: We evaluated traditional biogeographic boundaries of coastal marine regions in Southwestern Atlantic using DNA sequence data from common, rocky-shore inhabiting, marine mites of the genera Agauopsis and Rhombognathus, family Halacaridae. Methods: We investigated geographic population genetic structure using CO1 gene sequences, estimated div...

We describe two species of soil mite of the family Paratydeidae from the late Eocene Rovno amber: Scolotydaeus vlaskini sp. nov. and Tanytydeus pogrebnyaki sp. nov. This is the first formal description of fossils from the family Paratydeidae. These exceptionally well-preserved fossils have very similar morphologies compared to extant species, sugge...

Aim: We evaluated traditional biogeographic boundaries of coastal marine regions in SW Atlantic using DNA sequence data from common, rocky-shore inhabiting, marine mites of the genera Agauopsis and Rhombognathus, family Halacaridae. Methods: We investigated geographic population genetic structure using CO1 gene sequences, estimated divergence times...

The family Halacaridae comprises more than one thousand mostly marine or rarely freshwater species. Many are predacious, but among marine mites, some genera evolved the ability to feed on macroalgae. We inferred a time-calibrated phylogeny based on 18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, and Cytochrome oxidase I (5,143 nt aligned) and all non-monotypic halacarid subfa...

A checklist of the family Trombiculidae and Leeuwenhoekiidae is presented, containing 63 species in 30 genera of chiggers from 80 different hosts and 146 localities in Brazil. The type locality and depository are provided, including new locality and host records for the country.

The genus Omalonyx d'Orbigny, 1837, includes neotropical semi-aquatic succineid slugs and comprises six recognized species to date. Field surveys across continental South America recovered five of the six recognized species. According to the morphological characters traditionally included in Omalonyx descriptions, the specimens were tentatively ide...

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The evolutionary history of the old, diverse freshwater shrimp genus Caridina is still poorly understood, despite its vast distribution – from Africa to Polynesia. Here, we used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA to infer the phylogeographic and evolutionary history of C. typus, which is one of only four species distributed across the entire range of th...

Two new Brazilian Parasitengona belonging to the genera Callidosoma Womersley, 1936 and Durenia Vercammen-Grandjean, 1955 are described from larvae associated with, respectively, Lepidoptera and Culicidae. Updated keys for larvae of both genera and Scanning Electron Microscopy pictures of Callidosoma selmae sp. nov. are presented.

The low representativeness of the dog-faced bats (genus Cynomops Thomas, 1920) in collections has constrained the study of the diversity and the evolutionary relationships within this genus. Taxonomic revisions of some taxa, in particular the large-sized Cynomops abrasus (Temminck, 1827), are crucial for understanding the phylogeny of Cynomops. A t...

Two species of mites belonging to the genus Whartonia Ewing, 1944, family Leeuwenhoekiidae (Womersley, 1944), were obtained from Carollia perspicillata (Linnaeus, 1758) bats from mine tunnels in the municipalities of São José da Safira and Medina, Brazil: W. (W). pachywhartoni Vercammen-Grandjean, 1966 and W. (W.) nudosetosa Wharton, 1938. A table...

Background: Acariformes is the most species-rich and morphologically diverse radiation of chelicerate arthropods, known from the oldest terrestrial ecosystems. It is also a key lineage in understanding the evolution of this group, with the most vexing question whether mites, or Acari (Parasitiformes and Acariformes) is monophyletic. Previous molec...

Two species belonging to the algivorous genus Rhombognathus are described from algae associated to mangrove trees. Rhombognathus aribus sp. nov. is similar to R. major Bartsch, 2005, but may be set apart by the lacking of the third pair of dorsal setae on Ocular plates, adjunct setae on Posterior Epimeral plates, absence of ventral setae on basifem...

Two Limnohalacarus species are reported from the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Limnohalacarus cultellatus Viets, 1940 and L. mamillatus Fain & Lambrechts, 1987, originally described on the basis of individuals from the Caribbean region and aquaria in Belgium, respectively. The former species is also known from Madagascar, Hungary,...

The sperm cell morphology and spermatogenesis of Halacaroides antoniazziae Pepato Tiago and da Rocha 2011 and Acaromantis vespucioi Pepato and Tiago 2004 was investigated. Halacaroides sperm cells have a complete acrosomal complex, dense tubules crossing the cytoplasm and modified mitochondria. Mature sperm cells are surrounded by two kinds of secr...

Phylogenetic inferences employing almost complete ribosomal sequences in a Bayesian framework are reported. At least two representatives from all euchelicerate orders (among them 72 are acariform mites) and numerous out-groups (Myriapoda, Crustacea, Hexapoda, Onycophora, and Priapulida) were sampled, summing up to 228 terminal taxa. Sequences were...

The acariform mites are a hyperdiverse chelicerate lineage (estimated 350,000 species) that includes an array of detritivores, fungivores, phytophages, predators and animal parasites. The Acariformes are among the most ancient groups of chelicerate arthropods. Putative acariform asexuals are known from the late Devonian (410 Mya), with members of A...

The genus Halacarus is recorded from the Brazilian littoral for the first time. Two new species are described. Halacarus omului sp. nov., obtained from algae on the intertidal or immediate subtidal, is a member of the actenos species group and can be distinguished from most congeners by having fifth and sixth pairs of dorsal setae immediately adjac...

Five halacarid species are reported from the Brazilian coast for the first time. Scaptognathides delicatulus, formerly known only from its type locality in Kuwait; Scaptognathus gibbosus, known from Galapagos and Somalia; and Scaptognathus insularis known from northeastern Australia, have their distributions extended. Along with these new records,...

This study is the first familial level phylogenetic analysis of free-living cyclopoid copepods. Cyclopoids are notable for their success in a diversity of habitats and possession of diverse physiologies, life histories and chromatin diminution in some members. They are one of only three orders of copepods that have successfully invaded fresh waters...

The genus Copidognathus includes one-third of the species of Halacaridae described to date. This article describes spermiogenesis, sperm cell morphology and accompanying secretions from three species of Copidognathus. Initial spermatids have electron-dense cytoplasm with scattered mitochondria, a well-developed Golgi body, and nuclei with patches o...

Mites (Acari) have traditionally been treated as monophyletic, albeit composed of two major lineages: Acariformes and Parasitiformes. Yet recent studies based on morphology, molecular data, or combinations thereof, have increasingly drawn their monophyly into question. Furthermore, the usually basal (molecular) position of one or both mite lineages...

Secondary structure alignments. Two FASTA files containing the secondary structure alignments of 18 S and 28 S are provided, along with two notations marks, a pairing mask with signals such "( )", "{ }", and "< >" for paired sites, indicating the pair members; ".", for unpaired sites and "*", for regions of ambiguous alignment. The other mask indic...

Morphological characters statements. The file provided include statements of the 178 morphological characters used in the combined phylogenetic analyses and gathered along the present study.

Sampling data and taxonomy. The table indicate the taxonomy and collection information for the species newly sequenced and associated accession number for the MZUSP collection.

Monitoring the convergence of MCMC in Bayesian analyses. Plotings of the LnL of the stationary phase of each one of the models along with a comparison of parameters values obtained from the two independent runs using Gelman's statistic [105] are provided.

POY imputs. Fasta files including all the regions of ambiguous alignment are provided.

Morphological datasets. Two data matrices are provided, that produced by scoring character statements gathered along the present study (Matrix A) and those enunciated by Shultz [22] (Matrix B).

Tables with ILD metrics values for analysis employing direct optimization. The file contains ILD metrics values for the standard and constrained analysis of molecular data alone, and combined analysis of molecular data and morphological data matrices A and B.

This is the first record of the subfamily Rhombognathinae on the Brazilian coast. A new species is described, Rhombognathus levigatoides sp. nov., which shares most diagnostic features with R. levigatus Bartsch, 20007. Bartsch , I. 2000 . Rhombognathinae (Acari: Halacaridae) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. . Memoirs of the Queensland Museum...

Seven species from the northern littoral zone of Sao Paulo State ( Brazil) are here reported. Copidognathus tupinamborum sp. nov., C. sophiae sp. nov., C. tamoiorum sp. nov. and C. ditadii sp. nov. are described. C. modestus Bartsch, 1984, C. longispinus Bartsch & Iliffe, 1985 and C. floridensis (Newell, 1947) are obtained from the Brazilian littor...

Mites belonging to two new species of Agauopsis (Halacaridae, Acari) were obtained from seaweed, coarse sand and coarse shell debris taken from several sites in Northern Coast of São Paulo State. Agauopsis legionium sp. nov., which belongs to the brevipalpus group and Agauopsis itassussensis sp. nov., closely related to A. okinavensis Bartsch, 1986...

Mites belonging to two new species of Agauopsis (Halacaridae, Acari) were obtained from seaweed, coarse sand and coarse shell debris taken from several sites in Northern Coast of Sao Paulo State. Agauopsis legionium sp. nov., which belongs to the brevipalpus group and Agauopsis itassus-sensis sp. nov., closely related to A. okinavensis Bartsch, 198...

Juveniles and adults of two species belonging to the genus Copidognathus were found associated with crabs. C. libiniensis sp. nov. was found in the abdomen of males of Libinia spinosa H. Milne Edwards, 1934 (Decapoda, Pisidae) while C. menippensis sp. nov. was found in ovigerous and post-ovigerous females of Menippe nodifrons Stimpson,1859 (Decapod...

Pepato, Almir R., Tiago, Cláudio G. (2005): Halacaridae) from the northern littoral zone of São Paulo State (Brazil). Zootaxa 1083: 1-35, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.170418

This is the first record of the subfamily Simognathinae for the Brazilian coast. Two new species are described, Acaromantis vespucioi sp. nov. and Simognathus euphractus sp. nov. The description of Simognathus fuscus Viets, 1936 is extended with the inclusion of juveniles description.

Tiago, Almir Rogério Pepato Cláudio Gonçalves (2004): The genera Acaromantis and Simognathus (Simognathinae, Halacaridae) on the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. Zootaxa 615: 1-16, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.158730

Synoptic review of marine Acari species from Brazil The Brazilian species of marine Acari belonging to the families Halacaridae, Tydeidae, Selenoribatidae and Hyadesiidae are presented. The diagnosis of the families, genus and species is given as well as their geographic distributions.

Specimens of a new species of Agauopsis (Halacaridae, Acari) were obtained from algal samples from Cigarras Beach (São Sebastião, State of São Paulo, Brazil) and Lazaro Beach (Ubatuba, State of São Paulo, Brazil). Agauopsis bilophus sp. nov. is described and details of its taxonomy are given.

This study aimed to assess the phylogenetic position of the order Acariformes, describe the sperm cell morphology, accompanying secretions and spermiogenesis of halacarid mites. Eventually, it was also intended to describe a new species and occurrences along the São Paulo State coastline. The phylogenetic position of Acariformes mites is examined e...