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Photo#1423020
mystery Acari found in sea urchin larva culture
Copyright © 2017 hwynen

mystery Acari found in sea urchin larva culture
Guelpg, Ontario, Canada
August 14, 2017
Taken under microscope so there is no colour available but it is completely white. We found it alive in our sea urchin larva cultures and it was about the same size as month old sea urchin larva. The picture is of it at 10x magnification. It was able to survive underwater for at least 2 hours, probably more. We removed it but we mainly want to know if it will harm the larva if there are more in there.

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mystery Acari found in sea urchin larva culture mystery Acari found in sea urchin larva culture
Contributed by hwynen on 14 August, 2017 - 1:06pm
Last updated 20 August, 2017 - 8:49am

Moved
Moved from Mites and Ticks.
… Ken Wolgemuth, 20 August, 2017 - 8:49am

Astigmata: Acaridae
It is an astigmatid mite from the family Acaridae, and is probably Tyrophagus putrescentiae, a very common stored-product pest. They are terrestrial and feed on a diversity of foodstuffs as well as fungus (http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.1093/ee/nvv129). It may be that the food you feed your urchins is contaminated, or just that the mites are living on the lab benches and occasionally fall in.

Cheers,
Heather
… Heather Proctor, 19 August, 2017 - 11:39am

Moved for expert attention
Moved from ID Request.

Moved to Acari. With luck, others will be able to take the ID further.

Welcome to BugGuide!
… Ken Wolgemuth, 14 August, 2017 - 6:20pm

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