Systematic & Applied Acarology (2006) 11, 211–217. 211 © 2006 Systematic & Applied Acarology Society ISSN 1362-1971 New records of water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia, Halacaroidea) from interstitial waters of Iran, with the description of one new species VLADIMIR PESIC 1 , ALIREZA SABOORI 2 , MAHDIEH ASADI 2 & REZA VAFAEI 3 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Crna Gora, Cetinjski put b.b., 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro, Serbia and Montenegro. E-mail: pesicv@cg.yu 2 Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran 3 Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran Abstract New records of water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia, Halacaroidea) from interstitial waters of Iran are presented. Five species are recorded; Axonopsis caspica sp. nov. is described as new to science; new records from Iran are given of: Stygothrombium sp., Ljania macilenta Koenike, 1908, Kongsbergia pectinigera Mota & Tanasachi, 1946 and Lobohalacarus weberi (Romijn & K.Viets, 1924). Key words: Water mites, taxonomy, interstitial waters, new species, Iran Introduction The distribution of water mites in Iranian ground waters is poorly known (Pesic et al. 2005). So far 20 water mite (Acari, Hydrachnidia) species are known from interstitial waters in Iran (Schwoerbel & Sepasgozarian 1980; Pesic 2004; Pesic et al. 2005a, 2005b) of which 12 are hyporheobiontic (Pesic et al. 2005a). Furthermore, there are no records of halacarid mites (Acari, Halacaroidea) from interstitial waters in Iran. The aim of this paper is to present new data that contribute to our knowledge about the morphology, geographical distribution and habitat preference of Iranian water mites recently collected in subterranean habitats. Material and methods Mites were collected from the interstitial habitat by Karaman-Chappuis digs and sorted in the laboratory under a stereo microscope. Specimens were preserved in Koenike's fluid and dissected as described elsewhere (e.g. Gerecke 1991). Slide-mounted specimens in Hoyer's fluid and material preserved in Koenike-fluid is lodged in the collection of the first author. The holotype of the new species will be deposited in the Museum of the Natural History of Podgorica (Montenegro); further paratypes will be deposited in the Zoological Museum of the College of Agricultural of Tehran University in Karaj (Iran). In the section “Material examined” collecting site abbreviations derive from the geographical database of Vladimir Pesic (Podgorica). The composition of the material is given as: (males/females/deutonymphs) and the following abbreviations are used: Ac-1 = first acetabula, H = height, L = dorsal length, I-L-6 = Leg 1, sixth segment, P-1 = palp, first segment, W = width. All measurements are given in μm.