Nasal mites (Acari:Halarachnidae) in the spotted seal, Phoca largha Pallas, and other pinnipeds of Alaskan waters.

The nasal passages of 349 pinnipeds of seven species were examined for halarachnid mites. Each of seven Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), 75 of 99 harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), and four of 71 spotted seals (P. largha) were infected, but none of 28 walruses (Odobenus rosmarus), 43 ringed seals (Phoca hispida), 58 ribbon seals (P. fasciata), and 43 bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) was infected. The sea lions harbored Orthohalarachne attenuata (Banks, 1910) and O. diminuata (Doetschman, 1944), and the harbor and spotted seals harbored Halarachne halichoeri Allman, 1847. The finding of H. halichoeri in the spotted seals is a new host record.