black sea red data book - Department of Biology

Synonyms: None.
Common names: None.
Halacarellus procerus (Viets, 1927)
Order ACARIFORMES
Family HAL AC ARID AE
Taxonomic description. One of 18 species of the subfamily Halacarinae, and one of
seven species in the Black Sea. The body is narrow and stretched. Length from 0.475
to 0.580 mm on average, width 0.240 mm. Ocular plates well developed and
stretched in length.
IUCN Status
World level:
Black Sea Regional level:
Subregion level: EN (Ukrainian shelf)
Distribution, Habitat type, Critical habitats, Limiting factors. The species occurs
in the Black Sea and the North Sea. In the north-west of the Black Sea it was only
discovered in 1973. It is a typical representative of the interstitial meiofauna of the
sandy beaches. Its only habitat is the pseudolitoral (mediolitoral) and supralitoral zone
on beaches with coarse sand. Threats: pollution of the sea shore, man-made changes
in granulometric composition of the sand.
Biology. As all Halacaridae, H. procerus is a creeping animal, dispersed by water
currents. It feeds on liquid food.
Population trends. A sharp decline in abundance (80-90%) since the 1980s.
Threats. Pollution of the pseudolitoral (mediolitoral) zone and changes in the
granulometric composition of the sand
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