TARDIGRADA: AUSTRALIA 129 



of continental land, is not at all surprising, and at the high elevation at which 

 it lived the climatic conditions might approximate nearly to those of the bleak 

 southern island. 



Echiniscus tessellatus, sp. n. (Plate XVI. Fig. 15) 



Specific characters. Small, yellow, plates nine, Y. and VI. joined, coarsely papil- 

 lose. Seta a at base of head, very long. Shoulder plate divided into ten papillose facets, 

 separated by plain bands ; lumbar plate divided into six similar facets ; the paired 

 plates divided into three portions each by lines merely ; two pairs, lumbar plate 

 trefoliate. The lateral- ventral margins of the principal plates with a non-granular 

 band, which in empty skins forms a glassy clear zone round the whole animal like a 

 nimbus. Last leg with a spiny fringe, claws without barbs. 



General description. Length 200 M, seta a 150 /. The form is short and broad, 

 relatively broader in the empty skin. The plain lateral marginal band of the 

 shoulder, paired, and lumbar plates appears to be free from the body, forming a 

 kind of projecting flange, which can sometimes be seen in the living animal, but is 

 more pronounced in the empty skin. The papillae are large hemispherical knobs, the 

 coarsest known in an Echiniscus. The subdivisions of the shoulder and lumbar 

 plates are not to be regarded as distinct plates ; they are panels ornamenting the 

 surface. The lumbar plate is faceted, having four surfaces, which meet at an angle 

 a central one, two lateral, and one posterior. 



The papillae are seen on the posterior margins of most of the plates, showing that 

 the skin is there bent over. 



The two-clawed larva is known, and skins with one or two eggs have been seen. 



Many species of Echiniscus have the plates more or less subdivided. The plates 

 most commonly divided are the pairs, which are often crossed by one or two plain 

 bands, separating the plates into two or three papillose portions. Sometimes the 

 median plates are divided. There is no other species known which has such clear 

 divisions of the shoulder and lumbar plates. This character alone distinguishes it 

 from all other Echinisci. Other good characters are the hyaline margin to the plates, 

 the very long head setae, and the very coarse granules. 



Habitat. Among moss from trees in the bush at Eumundi, Queensland, May 

 1909. Abundant in one tuft of moss. 



Echiniscus intermedius, sp. n. (Plate XVI. Fig. 17) 



Specific characters. Small, hyaline or greyish. Mouth cirri with large conical 

 bases. Seta a long ; no other processes on the body. Plates nine ; V. and VI. united ; 

 two pairs ; three median ; each divided by transverse line into two portions ; lumbar 

 plate not trefoliate. Plates covered with very wide shallow depressions, the margins 



BKIT. ANTAKCT. EXPED. 1907-9. VOL. I. S 



