Tardigrades of North Carolina
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Scientific Name:
Family:
BATILLIPEDIDAE
CALOHYPSIBIIDAE
DORYPHORIBIIDAE
ECHINISCIDAE
EOHYPSIBIIDAE
HALECHINISCIDAE
HYPSIBIIDAE
ISOHYPSIBIIDAE
ITAQUASCONIDAE
MACROBIOTIDAE
MICROHYPSIBIIDAE
MILNESIIDAE
MURRAYIDAE
PILATOBIIDAE
RAMAZZOTTIIDAE
RICHTERSIUSIDAE
STYGARCTIDAE
STYRACONYXIDAE
TANARCTIDAE
Order:
APOCHELA
"ARTHROTARDIGRADES"
ECHINISCOIDEA
PARACHELA
Class:
Heterotardigrada
Eutardigrada
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Itaquasconidae Members:
Adropion belgicae
Adropion scoticum scoticum
Astatumen trinacriae
Guidettion carolae
Guidettion prorsirostre
Mesocrista spitzbergensis
Platicrista angustata
Platicrista horribilis
4 NC Records
Adropion belgicae
(Richters, 1911) - No Common Name
Habitus, DIC
Taxonomy
Class:
Eutardigrada
Order:
Parachela
Family:
Itaquasconidae
Subfamily:
Itaquasconinae
Checklist Number:
1110.0
Synonym:
Diphascon belgicae (see Bartels et al. 2021), Fujiscon diphasconiellum Ito, 1991
Taxonomic Comments:
Morphologically identical to species originally described from Svalbard, Norway. No molecular data available for further comparison. New family designation based on Tumanov & Tsvetkova (2023).
Species Notes:
Terrestrial. Broadly distributed in N.Am. and Europe.
Identification
Online resources:
Online Photographs:
Google
,
GBIF
Species Description:
Up to almost 500 microns, cuticle smooth, eye spots absent. The buccal and pharyngeal tubes are very narrow (diameter about 2.5 microns) and very long. Between the buccal tube and the pharyngeal tube there is no “drop” formation. The pharynx is oval-cylindrical, of greater length than twice the width, with two very slender and long macroplacoids (thickness about l micron), of which the first is about half the second. The legs present massive claws, remarkably different in size. Near the claws exists a cuticular bar, on the first three pair of legs.
-Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Body Length:
500 microns.
Key Characters:
Flexible buccal tube, and pharynx with 2 very long macroplacoids, the second twice as long as first, and a microplacoid. Internal claws smaller than external claws.
Key Character Images
claws
buccal apparatus
ID Requirements:
Identifiable only by close inspection of key characters or by DNA analysis.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
County Map:
Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Dates:
High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
Piedmont (Pd)
Coastal Plain (CP)
Click on graph to enlarge
Habitats and Life History
Habitats:
Soil and leaf litter.
Abundance:
In Bartels' GSMNP inventory, very rare, less than 0.06% of all terrestrial specimens collected.
Diet:
Microbivore, likely feeding on bacteria, fungi and detritus.
Reproduction:
Sexually reproducing, smooth eggs laid in shed exuvium.
Observation Methods:
Phase contrast and differential interference contrast microscopy.
Wikipedia
Photo Gallery for
Adropion belgicae
- No common name
Photos: 5
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Habitus, DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus, DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Claws III, DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Habitus, ventral, DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Habitus, DIC