First records of water bears (Phylum Tardigrada) from Swaziland

By

Meyer, Harry A
Tsaliki, Martha
Hinton, Juliana G.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2018-4-13

Original Publication

African invertebrates : a journal of biodiversity research

Volume

59

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

47--53

Subjects

Echiniscus , harrylewisi , KwaZulu-Natal , Lesotho , Milnesium , Minibiotus , quadrispinosus , tardigrades

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Council of the Natal Museum 2001-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.59.23191

 

Abstract

There are no published records of water bears (Phylum Tardigrada) from Swaziland. Two samples of foliose lichen collected in 2010 contained nine tardigrade specimens and one egg belonging to five genera and seven species: Echiniscuscf.quadrispinosus,Milnesiumsp., Milnesiumcf.bohleberi, Hypsibiuscf.convergens,Ramazzottiussp., Macrobiotuscf.pallarii andMinibiotusharrylewisi. Milnesiumsp. resemblesMilnesiumlagniappe, a species from southeastern USA, in its cuticle, and possibly in the number of peribuccal lamellae. Specimens from Lesotho and South Africa previously identified asMilnesiumtardigradumare in fact Milnesiumcf.bohleberi. The habitus ofRamazzottiussp. is consistent withR.theroni, a southern African species, but due to the condition of the specimen the presence of cuticular sculpture cannot be definitively ruled out. Macrobiotuscf.pallarii differs fromM.pallariisensu strictoin some structural details of the egg processes. This is the first record ofMinibiotusharrylewisioutside of its type location in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.