TY - JOUR JF - Acarologia T1 - Free-living mites (Acari) of the Shokalsky Island, off the northern Gyda Peninsula, Kara Sea, High Arctic VL - 64 IS - 1 SP - 172 EP - 191 PY - 2024 SN - 0044-586X SN - 2107-7207 PB - Les Amis d'Acarologia AU - Bizin, Mikhail AU - Makarova, Olga L. UR - https://doi.org/10.24349/634f-jb4i DO - 10.24349/634f-jb4i DA - 2024-02-01 ET - 2024-02-01 KW - abundance KW - assemblage structure KW - distribution range KW - local fauna KW - species diversity KW - polar desert KW - tundra AB - The fauna of free-living mites of the Shokalsky Island, off the Gyda Peninsula, Kara Sea, totals at least 81 species belonging to 36 families. The suborder Prostigmata includes 38 species, vs 18 of Oribatida, 17 of Mesostigmata, 5 of Endeostigmata, and 3 of Astigmata. The most species-rich families are Ascidae (9 species), Eupodidae (7), Tarsonemidae (4), and Ceratozetidae (4). However, most genera (77%) are represented by one species only. Among mites identified to the species level, the Holarctic species prevail which show mainly arctic, arctic-montane, and arctic-boreal distribution patterns. The abundance of soil mites varies with 10160–299440 ind./m2, being the maximum in the soil of both dryad tundra and in a polar fox den on a hillock. Prostigmata are the most diverse mite group throughout, but the dominant species include either prostigmatic or endeostigmatic, or oribatid mites. The rare species, Charadracarus hurdi Newell, 1960, hitherto known only from Point Barrow, Alaska, has been found for the first time since its original description. Some features of the acarofauna of the Shokalsky Island are transitional between those characteristics of the polar desert and tundra zones. ER -