| abstract | Based on published records and original data from recent research, a list is presented of the water mite (Acari: Hydrachnidia) fauna of the Balkan countries, i.e. Croatia, Bosnia an Hercegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Greece. It includes 382 species and subspecies in 77 genera and 34 families. Numerous new records for national faunas are reported, and five taxa, Sperchon pelopeius (Greece), Atractides stankovici (Croatia), Axonopsis graeca (Greece), Woolastookia minuta (Bosnia and Hercegovina, Greece) and Arrenurus ornatus graecus (Greece) are described as new to science. Atractides moniezi (Motaş, 1927) is synonymized with A. lacustris (Lundblad, 1925). The assumption K. O. Viets (!987) that Pionopsis subruber Đordević, 1903 is a synonym of P. lutescens (Hermann, 1804) is confirmed. The characteristics of the water mite fauna in the treated area are briefly outlined. Additional field work is highly desirabel for a more appropriate evaluation of the extant water mite biodiversity in the Balkan. |