Macrobiotus creber Pilato & Lisi, 2009, sp. n.

• Main Authors: Pilato, Giovanni, Lisi, Oscar
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Tardigrada; Eutardigrada; Parachela; Macrobiotidae; Macrobiotus; Macrobiotus creber; Bird Island; Round Island
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6214851; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6214851

Macrobiotus creber sp. n. Fig. 1 Material examined: Praslin Island, south of Mount Cabris, holotype (slide No. 5270), 18 paratypes and 5 eggs (with fully developed embryo) in a sample of mosses on soil; Silhouette, primary coastal forest (1 egg) in a leaf-litter sample; Grande Soeur, 1 egg in a leaf-litter sample; Petite Soeur, 2 eggs with fully developed embryo in a leaf-litter sample; Bird Island, 1 egg in a leaf-litter sample; Round Island (Praslin), 15 specimen and 10 eggs in a leaf-litter sample. Type repository: Holotype and paratypes are deposited in the Collection of Binda and Pilato (Museum of the Department of Animal Biology, University of Catania). Species diagnosis: Cuticle smooth with neither pores nor fine granulation; eye spots absent; buccopharyngeal apparatus of Macrobiotus type; buccal armature with ten peribuccal lamellae, an anterior band of rounded teeth, a posterior ring of triangular teeth and a system of three dorsal and three ventral transversal ridges; stylet supports inserted on the buccal tube at 80–81 % of its length. Pharyngeal bulb with apophyses, three rod-shaped macroplacoids and a large microplacoid. Claws, of hufelandi type, slender; smooth lunules present. Eggs laid freely; egg processes with a trunco-conical basal portion and distal portion once or twice divided (the subdivision may be dichotomic or multiple) with small terminal branches; egg shell with a delicate reticular design with tiny, rounded meshes. Description of the holotype: Body length about 260 µm, colorless, eye spots absent, cuticle smooth without pores. Fine dots on the legs absent. Mouth opening terminal with 10 small peribuccal lamellae, an anterior band of rounded teeth, a posterior ring of teeth and a system of three dorsal and three ventral transversal ridges; the medio-ventral ridge is subdivided into two teeth, after which a few small supplementary teeth are also present; buccal tube 36.3 µm long and 6.5 µm wide (pt = 17.9) (Fig. 1 A); stylet supports inserted on the buccal tube at 80.0 % of its length ...