The first record of a rare marine tardigrade, Halobiotus crispae Kristensen, 1982 (Eutardigrada: Hypsibiidae), from the Svalbard Archipelago

Abstract

A rare marine tardigrade Halobiotus crispae Kristensen, 1982 was found abundant in intertidal flats at Josephbukta, Bellsund fiord, West Spitsbergen. This is the first record of this species from the Svalbard Archipelago. So far, the species has been found only in seven other localities in the northern hemisphere (between 56°and 69°N). The present record greatly extends the known geographical range to the north and also indicates a much wider distribution of the species than formerly reported. Moreover, a potential indicative character of this species and of the study area in monitoring climatic changes is discussed.

A checklist of Norwegian Tardigrada

“…Only seven species have been reported so far (Richters 1908;Tambs-Lyche, 1940;Geddes 1968;Mokievsky 1992;Møbjerg et al, 2007;Kristensen & Hallas 2008;Ringvold 2015;Smykla et al, 2011) and due to the great variation of biotopes along the Norwegian coastline there is reason to believe that the real number of species is considerably higher. For instance, Hansen et al (2001) reported 35 different species of Heterotardigrada from the Faroe Bank, which emphasize the great potential of investigating tardigrade species from the marine environment along the Norwegian coast and offshore banks.…”

“…(e.g. Binda et al 1980, Coulson et al, 2014Dastych 1983Dastych , 1985De Smet and van Rompu 1994;Beyens 1987, 1988;Janiec 1996;Kaczmarek et al 2012;Opalinski 1986, 1989;Maucci 1996;Mokievsky 1992;Pilato et al, 1982;Pilato and Binda 1987;Smykla et al 2011;Tumanov 2007;Van Rompu and De Smet 1988Jankovská et al, 2016;Vonnahme et al, 2016;Zawierucha 2013;Zawierucha et al, 2013Zawierucha et al, , 2015a2016a,b,c,d;.…”

Remains of non-pollen-palynomorphs – tardigrades from Spitsbergen found during pollen analyses

“…Up to now circa 100 taxa were reported from this region but the presence of some of them needs confirmation (Coulson and others 2014). However, in recent years the new species and new reports of known taxa are published from this region quite frequently (for example Smykla and others 2011; Kaczmarek and others 2012; Zawierucha 2013; Zawierucha and others 2013, 2015a, 2015b) which suggests that the final number of tardigrade taxa on Svalbard is probably much higher.…”

Tardigrada of the Revdalen (Spitsbergen) with the descriptions of two new species: Bryodelphax parvuspolaris (Heterotardigrada) and Isohypsibius coulsoni (Eutardigrada)

“…Other papers were published sporadically, and the majority were limited to reports and descriptions of new species from the Svalbard Archipelago (e.g. Binda et al 1980;Pilato et al 1982;Dastych 1983;De Smet et al 1987Pilato and Binda 1987;Van Rompu and De Smet 1988, 1991, 1994De Smet and Van Rompu 1994;Maucci 1996;Tumanov 2007;Smykla et al 2011). In the region of Hornsund, studies were previously conducted by Węglarska (1965), Dastych (1985), Maucci (1996), Janiec (1996) and Łagisz (1999).…”