Tardigrades of North Carolina
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View PDFItaquasconidae Members: 9 NC Records

Guidettion carolae (Binda & Pilato, 1969) - No Common Name


Habitus, DIC
Taxonomy
Class: EutardigradaOrder: Parachela Family: ItaquasconidaeSubfamily: Itaquasconinae Checklist Number: 1220.0 Synonym: Diphascon cf. carolae, Diphascon carolae, Adropion carolae (see Bartels et al. 2021)
Taxonomic Comments: Transferred from Adropion by Gasiorek & Michalczyk 2020. Morphologically indistinguishable from European populations, but no molecular data for further comparison. Family designation follows Tumanov & Tsvetkova (2023).
Species Notes: Terrestrial. Rarely reported species known only from Smokies in US.
Identification
Online resources:Online Photographs: Google, GBIF                                                                                 
Species Description: The two specimens collected measured 161 µm, the eyes are absent and the anterior portion of the body is clearly narrowed; cuticle smooth. Buccal tube with insertion appendices of the stylet muscles in the shape of crests; pharyngeal tube (flexible) very narrow (diameter about 1 µm), about 1.5 times as long as the pharynx and with the usual twisting spiral of its wall. There is no “drop” formation on the buccal tube. Pharynx of very elongated shape, with length:width ratio to 2.1-2.2:1 (about 21-22 µm x 10 µm). Very small apophyses and 3 macroplacoids (rods), the first two of almost equal length (respectively 2.3 to 2.5 µm), the third clearly longer (about 6 µm); microplacoid and septula absent. The length of the row of 3 placoids is about 14 µm and therefore greater than half the length of the pharynx. Doubleclaws of Hypsibius type and the two of each leg are somewhat different from each other in shape and size; small accessory points, either on the principal branch of the external doubleclaw (7.8 µm long), or of the internal doubleclaws (6 µm long). Since the principal branch is inserted on the basal claw at about a third of its length, the basal portion of the claws appears not particularly short. D. carolae is distinguished from D. tenue (the species which it closest resembles) by having the rostral part of the body slender by the presence of small apophyses (lacking in tenue), by the considerable length of the row of placoids (larger than half the length of the pharynx, while in tenue is less), by having the basal portion of the claws not particularly short, while in tenue it is short, by the posterior legs of normal length and not short like tenue.
-Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Body Length: 161 microns.
Key Characters: No "drop", 3 macroplacoids (1st and 2nd very similar in length, third more than twice as long), no microplacoid or septulum. The length of all three macroplacoids is greater than 1/2 the length of the pharynx.
Key Character Images
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: Rock moss, also soil/leaf litter and tree moss.
Abundance: Rare. This species makes up 0.21% of terrestrial specimens collected in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Bartels' inventory.
Diet: Microbivore.
Reproduction: Smooth eggs laid in shed exuvium.
Observation Methods: PC and DIC.
Wikipedia

 Photo Gallery for Guidettion carolae - No common name

Photos: 5

Recorded by: Bartels on 2003-07-15
Haywood Co.
Comment: Habitus, DIC		Recorded by: Bartels on 2003-07-15
Haywood Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Bartels on 2003-07-15
Haywood Co.
Comment: Anterior section showing buccal apparatus, DIC		Recorded by: Bartels on 2003-07-15
Haywood Co.
Comment: Claws DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2003-07-15
Haywood Co.
Comment: Embryonate eggs, DIC