The water mite family Aturidae Thor (Acari: Hydrachnidia) from Ghana, with the description of twelve new species Author Smit, Harry text Zootaxa 2016 4158 4 523 543 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.4158.4.5 560e4a43-69cb-46b4-99f7-40d583fe455e 1175-5326 257473 C904ADAE-1B46-4E42-8E43-186DE2A078BF Genus Aturus Kramer, 1875 The genus Aturus has a nearly cosmopolitan distribution, lacking only in the Australasian region . The highest species diversity is found in the Nearctic region ( Di Sabatino et al. 2008 ). In the Afrotropical region three species are known, all from East Africa . Below the first species is described for West Africa from Ghana . Females cannot be identified in many cases ( Gerecke et al. 2016 ), and therefore these records are given separately below. Material examined. Ghana . 0/1/0, Kulugu River , upstream, hyporheic, 6º 51.223 N 0º 25.141 E , alt. 410 m a.s.l. , 20-ii-2013 ; 0/3/0, Stream downstream of Wanjakli Falls , Lipke Todome , 7º 0 9.976 N 0º 36.456 E , alt. 478 m a.s.l. , 23-ii-2013 .