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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Hypsibiidae Members:
Diphascon higginsi
Diphascon nobilei
Diphascon pingue
Diphascon pinguiforme
Diphascon stappersi
Hypsibius convergens
Hypsibius microps
Hypsibius n. species
Hypsibius n. species (aff. dujardini)
Hypsibius pallidus
Hypsibius roanensis
Mixibius n. species
Mixibius saracenus
3 NC Records
Diphascon pingue
(Marcus, 1936) - No Common Name
Drawing of buccal apparatus (Pilato & Binda 1999)
Taxonomy
Class:
Eutardigrada
Order:
Parachela
Family:
Hypsibiidae
Subfamily:
Diphasconinae
Checklist Number:
1180.0
Taxonomic Comments:
Species morphologically indistinguishable from original specimen from Europe, but no molecular evidence for further comparison. The Diphascon pingue group was separated into multiple species by Pilato & Binda 1997/98, 1999. Older records of pingue could be D. pinguiforme. Family designation follows Tumanov & Tsvetkova (2023).
Species Notes:
Terrestrial. Apparently cosmpolitan distribution. Reported widely throughout US.
Identification
Online resources:
Online Photographs:
Google
,
GBIF
Species Description:
Eyes absent, cuticle smooth. In a specimen 190 microns long the bucco-pharyngeal tube is 55.94 microns long; the buccal tube, measured as speccified abov e, 21.16 microns long (37.8% of the total length of the bucco-pharyngeal tube) and 1.63 microns wide (ptd=7.70). The stylet supports are inserted at 57.63% of the buccal tube length. The pharyngeal bulb is 25.41 microns long and 19.24 microns wide; it has apophyses, three rod-shaped macroplacoids, a small, granular microplacoid, and a well-developed septulum. The macroplacoid length gradually increases from the first to the third macroplacoid; the difference in length between the third and the second macroplacoid is very similar to that between the second and first one. The septulum is almost as long as the first macroplacoid. The claws are not very long and have a basal portion normally developed. On all claws the main branches have well-developed accessory points. Lunulae and other cuticular thickenings on the legs are absent. Smooth eggs are laid in the exuvium. -Pilato & Binda 1997/98.
Body Length:
Up to 250 microns
Key Characters:
Differs from D. pinguiforme by having shorter macroplacoids, macroplacoid length = 1<2<3, and smaller claws. Differs from D. higginsi by lack of claw bars and lack of dentate claw bases.
Key Character Images
Drawings from Pilato & Binda 1999
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:
Moss and leaf litter.
Abundance:
A dominant species in leaf litter in Vecchi et al. 2021
Diet:
Microbivore
Reproduction:
Smooth eggs laid in shed exuvium.
Observation Methods:
DIC, PC microscopy.
Wikipedia
Photo Gallery for
Diphascon pingue
- No common name
Photos: 1
Recorded by: Vecchi on 2015-05-15
Orange Co.
Comment: Drawing of buccal apparatus (Pilato & Binda 1999)