Tardigrades of North Carolina
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Comments
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
1 NC Records
Guidettion prorsirostre
(Thulin, 1928) - No Common Name
Habitus from European specimen, PC. L. Kaczmarek.
Taxonomy
Class:
Eutardigrada
Order:
Parachela
Family:
Itaquasconidae
Subfamily:
Itaquasconinae
Checklist Number:
1240.0
Synonym:
Diphascon scoticum, Diphascon scoticum scoticum (see Bartels et al. 2021), Adropion prorsirostre
Taxonomic Comments:
Transferred from Adropion by Gasiorek & Michalczyk 2020. Morphologically matches European populations, but no molecular data for further comparison. Family designation follows Tumanov & Tsvetkova (2023).
Species Notes:
Terrestrial. Appears to be cosmopolitan.
Identification
Online resources:
Online Photographs:
Google
,
GBIF
Species Description:
Body slender, buccal aperture terminal as in the genus Macrobiotus, so that the “forehead” becomes receding and all the cephalic region, viewed in profile, assumes an appearance more of Macrobiotus than of Hypsibius. Eyes absent, cuticle smooth. Buccal tube and pharyngeal tube rather narrow, without the “drop” formation. The pharyngeal tube is about as long as the pharynx, which is of elongated oval shape, with lengthwidth ratio of 1.6~1.7:1; in the pharynx there are apophyses and 3 macroplacoids (slender rods) of increasing length in rostro-caudal sense; microplacoid absent. The length of the individual row of 3 macroplacoids is about equal to half the length of the pharynx. Doubleclaws of all the legs of different size and similar to those of D. scoticum. Eggs unknown. -Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Body Length:
245-325 microns.
Key Characters:
No "drop", three rows of microplacoids (length 1<2<3 but third not twice as long as others), no microplacoid or septulum. The length of all three macroplacoids is about 1/2 the length of the pharynx.
Key Character Images
Buccal apparatus L. Kaczmarek
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:
Terrestrial in European collections, freshwater stream in the one Smokies record.
Abundance:
Appears to be fairly common in Europe. Very rare in Bartels' Smokies inventory, only 1 specimen was found.
Diet:
Microbivore
Reproduction:
Smooth eggs laid in shed exuvium.
Observation Methods:
DIC and PC.
Wikipedia
Photo Gallery for
Guidettion prorsirostre
- No common name
Photos: 5
Recorded by: Bartels on 2008-04-17
Swain Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus image from Gasiorek & Michalczyk 2020.
Recorded by: Bartels on 2008-04-17
Swain Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus, Focus merged. From European specimen. L. Kaczmarek
Recorded by: Bartels on 2008-04-17
Swain Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus showing furca and Claws I, PC. European specimen L. Kaczmarek
Recorded by: Bartels on 2008-04-17
Swain Co.
Comment: Claws IV, PC From European specimen. L. Kaczmarek
Recorded by: Bartels on 2008-04-17
Swain Co.
Comment: Habitus from European specimen, PC. L. Kaczmarek.