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.
The phylum Tardigrada was not recorded in Ireland until the Clare Island Survey of 1909–1911, with only rare subsequent reports on Irish tardigrade species. In recent decades, significant taxonomic revision has occurred within Tardigrada. This has resulted in the need for a review of all known historical records from Ireland and Northern Ireland in order to produce an updated checklist of valid taxa. The new checklist includes fifty-one tardigrade species and subspecies including a new addition to the Irish fauna reported herein, Echiniscus
quadrispinosus
quadrispinosus Richters, 1902 from Newtown, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare.
Deep-water sampling in the Perdido Fold Belt, Gulf of Mexico, Mexican Economic Exclusive Zone yielded five specimens of tardigrades belonging to the genus Coronarctus Renaud-Mornant, 1974. The specimens represent the first records of the genus for Mexico. Two two-clawed larvae and two four-clawed larvae of Coronarctus mexicus Romano, Gallo, D'Addabbo, Accogli, Baguley & Montagna, 2011 and a single four-clawed larval specimen of an undescribed Coronarctus species were identified. Taxonomic analysis of the specimens contributed to the knowledge of deep-sea and Mexican marine tardigrades, two data-poor areas of study.
The findings of an investigation of the tardigrade fauna associated with beech (Fagus sylvatica) leaf litter in the Republic of Ireland and Scotland are reported. The present study is the first to specifically target this microhabitat in either country. Tardigrades were extracted from 16 samples of leaf litter obtained from seven locations (one in Ireland and six in Scotland). Twenty five tardigrade taxa were encountered including seven that represent new records for the Republic of Ireland (Pseudechiniscus sp. nov., Diphascon pingue group sp., Hypsibius cf. convergens, Hypsibius cf. scabropygus, Itaquascon cf. globuliferum, Ursulinius sp. nov., and Minibiotus sp. nov.) and four for Scotland (Bertolanius weglarskae, Hypsibius cf. scabropygus, Adropion belgicae and Pilatobius ramazzottii). The collection of several taxa that either represent new records or undescribed species within a small number of samples demonstrates the importance for researchers to include leaf litter when assessing and reporting the tardigrade biodiversity of an area.
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