A new species, Doryphoribius chetumalensis, is described from specimens collected in the city of Chetumal (Quintana Roo state, Mexico). The species was found in a new and unusual habitat for urban tardigrades, i.e. the soil sediment accumulated on the border of streets. This discovery shows that tardigrades can live in this habitat, demonstrating once again the wide capacity of this taxon to tolerate adverse habitats, and to survive in environments with high anthropogenic impact. Doryphoribius chetumalensis sp. nov. differs from all the other species of the genus in having enlarged and wide bulbous base of the claws. Within Doryphoribius, it belongs to the zappalai group, and differs from the species in this group, not only in the claw shape, but also by the orange body colour, the smooth cuticle, the absence of a tooth in the wall of the buccal ring, and the absence of lunules under the claws. This is the first record of tardigrades, identified to species level, in Quintana Roo state. A taxonomic key of the Doryphoribius genus is also presented.
Marine tardigrades were sampled at three sites on Mexico’s Caribbean coast. Eleven taxa were collected, one of which is described as a new species. Styraconyx robertoi sp. nov. is characterized by: asymmetric primary clavae; dorsal cuticle with a grid-like sculpture; claws with reduced accessory hooks; females with peduncles on only two digits (the external) of legs I–IV; males with peduncles only on the external digits of legs I–III and peduncles on all four digits of leg IV. Styraconyx robertoi sp. nov. is most similar to S. craticuliformis Chang & Rho, 1998 and S. kristenseni Renaud-Mornant, 1981 by having asymmetric primary clavae but differs from S. craticuliformis mainly by the number of peduncles and from S. kristenseni mainly by the presence of a grid-like dorsal sculpture. Additionally, a comparison of material collected from the same region, but reported previously only as genus level records, was carried out in order to produce a refined list of the known Mexican marine tardigrade species.
El presente estudio provee el registro de tardígrados de líquenes en una plantación de cítricos de traspatio de la comunidad de El Palmar en el estado de Quintana Roo, México. Se proporciona la diagnosis de los géneros Ramazzottius, Mesobiotus y Milnesium. Se discute sobre la riqueza y abundancias de tardígrados en el estado. Se proporciona un cuadro comparativo de los caracteres más relevantes de los tres géneros.
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