| abstract | In a survey on the edaphic mesostigmatic mites in mangrove forests of Qeshm Island, eastern of the Persian Gulf, two species of the family Ascidae were collected in broken cockleshells and sand in littoral zone: Leioseius sepidehaesp. nov. and Protogamasellus mica (Athias-Henriot, 1961). This is the first record of the genus Leioseius from Iran. Leioseius sepidehaesp. nov. is described from adult females. Intraspecific variations of some characters of P. mica are discussed, and based on those, P. primitivus machadoi Genis, Loots & Ryke, 1967 and P. primitivus similis Genis, Loots & Ryke, 1967 are herein synonymized under P. mica. Finally, the occasional presence of the gland pores gv1 in Ascidae is reviewed, and a key to the Iranian genera and species of Ascidae is presented. |