Tardigrades from Nahuel Huapi National Park (Argentina, South America) with descriptions of two new Macrobiotidae species

Abstract

In 31 samples of mosses and lichens collected in the Argentinean province of Río Negro, 657 tardigrades, 53 exuviae and 219 free-laid eggs were found. In total, 20 species were identified: Diphascon chilenense, Dip. mitrense, Echiniscus bigranulatus, Ech. corrugicaudatus, Ech. merokensis merokensis, Ech. testudo, Hebesuncus mollispinus, Hypsibius convergens, Macrobiotus cf. anderssoni, Mac. andinus, Mac. kazmierskii, Mac. patagonicus, Mesobiotus szeptyckii, Mes. pseudoblocki sp. nov., Milnesium argentinum, Mil. beatae, Mil. brachyungue, Mil. granulatum, Mopsechiniscus granulosus, Minibiotus pseudostellarus sp. nov. Of the two new species, Mesobiotus pseudoblocki sp. nov. is most similar to Mes. blocki, but it differs mainly by the lack of dentate lunules, smaller eggs and presence of reticular design on egg processes. Minibiotus pseudostellarus sp. nov. is most similar to Min. constellatus, Min. eichhorni, Min. sidereus or Min. vinciguerrae, but it differs from them by the presence of 'pseudo-star'-shaped pores in the dorsal cuticle instead of fully developed 'stars' and by other morphometric characters.

Tardigrades from Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein, 1823 nests on the Argentine Islands (maritime Antarctic)

“…Remarks: Species with the type locality in Norway and recorded from many localities in the Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic to northern Africa (McInnes 1994) and only a few in the Southern Hemisphere in Argentina and Chile (Maucci 1988;Rossi et al 2009;Roszkowska et al 2016). Such distribution may suggest a species complex .…”

Macrobiotus naskreckiisp. nov., a New Tardigrade (Eutardigrada: Macrobiotidae) of theHufelandiGroup from Mozambique

“…By the presence of oval and 'pseudo-star'-shaped pores on the dorsal side of the body and single star-shaped pores on the legs, these specimens were similar to the newly described species from Argentina, Min. pseudostellarus Roszkowska et al 2016. However, the quality of the specimens precluded definitive designation to the species level.…”

Tardigrada of Bory Tucholskie National Park, Zaborski Landscape Park, and their surroundings (Pomerania Province, Poland)

“…granulatum Ramazzotti, 1962 48 (1) Species described from Chile, but also reported from Argentina, Colombia, Italy, Romania, and USA (Bartels et al, 2014;Ciobanu et al, 2014;Roszkowska et al, 2016). Species new for the Polish fauna.…”