Unionicola | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
Class: | Arachnida |
Order: | Trombidiformes |
Family: | Unionicolidae |
Genus: | Unionicola Haldeman, 1842[1] |
Unionicola is a genus of freshwater arachnids, belonging to the family Unionicolidae.[2][3] The genus was described in 1842 by Samuel Stehman Haldeman.[1][2] The genus has cosmopolitan distribution.[2]
Most Unionicola are associated with molluscs, but Unionicola crassipes and Unionicola minor is associated with sponges of family Spongillidae.[4] The association with mussels can be described as symbiotic. There is evidence that mites consume host tissue[5] and can be associated with reduced host fitness, although the causal direction of the latter remains unclear.[6]
Species include the following: