Pezidae, a new freshwater mite family from Australia (Acarina : Halacaroidea)

Abstract

A new halacaroid family, Pezidae, is erected for the new genus Peza, with two new species Peza ops (type species) and Peza daps. P. ops has been widely collected in south-eastern Australia, while P. daps is known only from a single female taken from the gill chamber of a burrowing crayfish, Engaeus fultoni Smith & Schuster (Crustacea : Decapoda : Parastacidae), in the Otway Ranges, Victoria. During winter and spring, females of both species apparently attach their eggs to their hind legs. The Pezidae is regarded as the sister-group of the remaining Halacaroidea.