Tardigrades of North Carolina
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View PDFIsohypsibiidae Members: 10 NC Records

Dianea basalovoi (Durante Pasa & Maucci, 1973) - No Common Name


Habitus, DIC
Taxonomy
Class: EutardigradaOrder: Parachela Family: Isohypsibiidae Checklist Number: 1670.0 Synonym: Hypsibius (I.) basalovoi Durante & Maucci, 1972),Isohypsibius cf. basalovoi, Isohypsibius basalovoi (see Bartels et al. 2021)
Taxonomic Comments: Transfered from Isohypsibius to Dianea by Gasiorek et al 2019. Morphologically indistinguishable from species reported from Europe but molecular evidence for further comparison unavailable.
Species Notes: Freshwater. Previously found in Europe, only reported from NC and TN in USA.
Identification
Online resources:Online Photographs: Google, GBIF                                                                                 
Species Description: Colorless. Eye spots present. The sculpture of the cuticle is composed of irregular polygonal plates, of variable size, which form a very pronounced network (maximum size of the mesh about 5 µm). This sculpture, most evident on the dorsum, is clearly defined, and is absent on the flanks and the ventral side. Besides the plates of the sculpture, the dorsum has flattened hemispherical gibbosities, on each of which the sculpture forms mesh much smaller and denser. The gibbosities are arranged in nine transverse rows, distributed as follows:
1st row: two gibbosities
2nd row: two gibbosities (in a single specimen, 4)
3rd row: four gibbosities
4th row: four gibbosities
5th row: four gibbosities
6th row: two gibbosities (in two specimens, 4)
7th row: four gibbosities
8th row: four gibbosities
9th row: three gibbosities

The buccal tube is rather narrow (23.4 µm long and 2 µm wide, in the holotype). Apophyses muscle attachments in the shape of crests. Slender stylets, with small furcae, spread very wide. Stylet supports long, straight, slender. Pharynx subcircular (20 by 18 µm), at times a little pyriform, having the greatest width in the posterior third. Apophyses are present; and three macroplacoids, in the shape of short rounded rods: the first two very close to each other, almost in contact, are very short, equal, or else the second scarcely longer than the first; the third is more elongated. Microplacoid absent. Legs short and stumpy; the fourth pair has a smooth gibbosity on the dorsal side. There is no cuticular bar on the first pair of legs, as present in some species of Isohypsibius. The doubleclaws are large, massive, those of each leg almost equal. The common branch is very short, with an expanded base variously developed, at times scarcely noticeable, spinous, at times large and almost like a lunule, lunuliform. Such enlargement is always more marked on the fourth pair of legs. The two branches, principal and secondary, are almost equally developed, long, robust, with greatest thickness at a certain distance from the common junction. The principal branch runs straight, with an abrupt terminal curvature almost at a right angle, and has two very small accessory points, difficult to see even with oil immersion phase contrast. The secondary branch is strongly arched.
-Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Body Length: To 280 microns.
Key Characters: eyes, wide buccal tube, 3 rows of macroplacoids, massive claws, cuticle with reticulations, lunules, gibbosities,
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: Freshwater streams and periphyton. Rarely see in terrestrial samples.
Abundance: Uncommon, making up 0.66% of aquatic specimens in Bartels'Smokies inventory.
Diet: Unknown, possibly omnivorous.
Reproduction: Smooth eggs laid in shed exuvium.
Observation Methods: PC, DIC
Wikipedia

 Photo Gallery for Dianea basalovoi - No common name

Photos: 5

Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Habitus, DIC		Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Cuticular scultpure, DIC
Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Cuticular structures		Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Habitus, PC
Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus, PC