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
8 NC Records
Platicrista angustata
(Murray, 1905) - No Common Name
Habitus, DIC
Taxonomy
Class:
Eutardigrada
Order:
Parachela
Family:
Itaquasconidae
Subfamily:
Itaquasconinae
Checklist Number:
1430.0
Synonym:
Itaquascon n. sp. (see Bartels et al. 2021), Diphascon angustatum
Taxonomic Comments:
Morphologically indistinguishable from species originally described in Scotland. Records for this species exist in GenBank, but there is no molecular data for the NC population for further comparison. Family designation follows Tumanov & Tsvetkova (2023).
Species Notes:
Terrestrial. Widely reported in USA.
Identification
Online resources:
Online Photographs:
Google
,
GBIF
Species Description:
Transparent, with smooth cuticle, eyes absent. The body has its maximum width (observed from dorsum) in correspondence with the 3rd pair of legs, then reducing progressively toward the rostral end, becoming almost conical in the cephalic region. Pharyngeal tube short and wide, with typical annular sculpture, sometimes visible only at strong magnification. Between the buccal tube proper (rigid) and the pharyngeal tube there is no “drop” formation present as in most Diphascon. Stylets slender, straight, almost parallel to the buccal tube, little divergent caudally; pharynx cylindrical, about twice the length of its width, with two slender macroplacoids, the second twice the length of the first, sometimes less; microplacoid absent. Eggs unknown.
-Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Body Length:
350-490 microns.
Key Characters:
The genus Platicrista is characterized by a buccal tube that is annulated in the caudal half only, stylet supports inserting at the beginning of the annulations, and two long thin macroplacoids. In this species, claw IV lunules are smooth.
Key Character Images
Buccal apparatus drawing from Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Claw IV, PC
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/leaf litter, less often in tree moss and lichen.
Abundance:
Common in Nelson's Roan Mt. inventory. Rare in Bartels' Smokies inventory, making up 0.16% of terrestrial specimens collected.
Diet:
Possibly omnivorous.
Reproduction:
Smooth eggs deposited in exuvium.
Observation Methods:
PC and DIC.
Wikipedia
Photo Gallery for
Platicrista angustata
- 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: Anterior with buccal apparatus, DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Claws IV, DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Claws III, DIC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-11-23
Haywood Co.
Comment: Drawings from Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983