Hebesuncus mollispinus Pilato, Mcinnes & Lisi, 2012, sp. nov.

• Main Authors: Pilato, Giovanni, Mcinnes, Sandra J., Lisi, Oscar
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Tardigrada; Eutardigrada; Parachela; Hypsibiidae; Hebesuncus; Hebesuncus mollispinus; Charcot; Mull; Terra Firma; Charcot Island; Marion Nunataks; Alamode; Terra Firma Islands; Alamode Island
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/5874140; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5874140

Hebesuncus mollispinus sp. nov. Material examined. Type locality: Vegetation: Moss – Coscinodon reflexidens Mull. Hal.; Site: Unnamed outcrop in the Marion Nunataks, Charcot Island (69 ° 45 'S, 75 ° 15 'W), altitude: 150m. Collector: P. Convey, Date: 0 5 February 1999. Botanical sample in BAS Herbarium Database (AAS Name and No.): Convey, P. 00326A. Holotype: slide No. 5057, 8 paratypes (slide Nos. 5057 and 5058) and 16 eggs, 2 with the developed juveniles (slide No. 5058) deposited in the collection of Binda & Pilato (Museum of the Department of Animal Biology “Marcello La Greca”, University of Catania), a slide with three paratypes and one egg (BASCH 012) deposited in the Natural History Museum, London (cat. No. BMNH ENT 2012 - 89), a slide with three paratypes and one egg (BASCH 013) deposited in the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh (cat. No. NMS.Z. 2011.160) and a further 41 paratypes and 10 eggs on 8 slides (slide Nos. BASCH 009- 11; BASCH 019- 22) deposited in the BAS Data Resource Collection. Additional material: From mixed moss sample Charcot Island: Slide Nos. BASCH 030; BASCH 032; BASCH 034; BASCH 035. From Coscinodon sp. Alamode Island, Terra Firma Islands: Slide Nos. BASAL 001– 2. From Andreaea sp. South Georgia: BASSG 0046. Etymology. ‘mollispinus’ is derived from the Latin mollis – soft; spinus – spines, and refers to the soft spines observed on the eggs of this species. Description of the holotype. Body length ca. 220 µm (not perfectly extended); colourless, eye spots present. Dorsal and lateral cuticle of the caudal region wrinkled with small, slightly protruding, irregular tubercles (Fig. 2 A). This texture is more visible from legs III (legs II in one paratype) to the caudal extremity of the body. Buccopharyngeal apparatus is of the Hebesuncus type, i.e. with the bucco-pharyngeal tube subdivided into an anterior rigid portion (buccal tube) and a posterior, flexible, portion with a spiral thickening (pharyngeal tube) (Fig. 2 B); buccal tube without ventral lamina and with the dorsal ...