DNA Barcoding and New Records of Water Mites (Acari, Hydrachnidia) from Bosnia and Herzegovina

During the last decade, DNA barcoding has become a widely applicated approach in the identification of water mite species. Still, our knowledge about the molecular diversity and number of DNA barcodes of water mite species that inhabit Bosnia and Herzegovina is limited. In this study a total of 50 mitochondrial barcode sequences were obtained from 18 water mite species collected in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Seven species, i.e. Sperchon violaceus Walter, 1944, S. milisai Pešić, 2022, Lebertia glabra Thor, 1897, L. reticulata (Koenike, 1919), Torrenticola lukai Pešić, Valdecasas & Garcia-Jimenez, 2012, Hygrobates turcicus Pešić, Esen & Dabert, 2017, and Arrenurus cylindratus Piersig, 1896 are added as new for the water mite fauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our results revealed that all recorded water mite species in our study could be identified when we consider global and regional DNA barcode database.