| abstract | There are few records of water mites from the deeper ground waters of driven wells. Collections, almost exclusively from wells, made under the direction of Dr. G. Kuschel in South Island, New Zealand, contain an assemblage of species second only to those from this specialized habitat in Japan. There is little duplication between species occurring in the wells and those previously collected in the more superficial hyporheic zone of New Zealand streams, suggesting that relatively distinct faunas inhabit these two types of ground waters. The collections contain a total of 27 species, 21 of which are new. Eleven species belonging to the Notoaturinae, all from driven wells, are described in this paper. These include five species of Taintaturus (zelandicus, livingstoni, brevipalpis, lembus, stoutae), one species each in additional previously described genera (Planaturus rugosus, Abelaturus ogalus, Zelandalbia acuta) and three new genera and species (Hestaturus ovalis, Bleptaturus magnipalpis, Colobaturus diamphida). |