Tardigrades of North Carolina
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View PDFMurrayidae Members: 1 NC Records

Dactylobiotus haplonyx Maucci, 1981 - No Common Name


Habitus, DIC
Taxonomy
Class: EutardigradaOrder: PARACHELA Family: Murrayidae Checklist Number: 1935.0
Taxonomic Comments: Morphologically identical to species first recorded in Italy. No molecular data available for further comparisons. Also, no eggs have been found, and this is a taxonomically important trait in this genus.
Species Notes: Freshwater. A very rare species, this is the first record from North America, previously known only from Italy.
Identification
Online resources:Online Photographs: Google, GBIF                                                                                 
Species Description: Rather squat shape, with short legs. Eye spots present, obvious, composed of pigmented granules, very dense. Cuticle smooth, without pores. The mouth opening is surrounded by 10 buccal lamellae. The buccal tube is rather short and very wide (about 18% of the length). The stylet supports are fused to the tube at a distance from the opening to it, a little greater than the diameter of the tube. The pharynx is oval, slightly elongated. The apophyses are slender and elongated; there are two macroplacoids of very slender rod shape, the first of 12, the second of 6~; both the placoids, but especially the first has irregular thickness, with projections and constrictions, and the first has besides a deep constriction, which seems almost to divide it in two. Microplacoid absent. The claws are very large. Lacking the lunules, but the claws of each leg are connected to each other at the bases by means of a sclerified band. The principal branch, strongly arched, has accessory points. The secondary branch is inserted very near to the base of the claw, and on the first three pair of legs is very short, extremely slender, reduced almost to a spur. On the fourth pair of legs, the secondary pair - always considerably shorter than the principal -- has a normal development. Eggs have not been found, but two females contained respectively 5 and 10 eggs almost mature, strongly supplied with ornamentation, which seems to be slightly rounded cones, wide and low, distant from each other. It may be that such eggs are deposited free.
-Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Body Length: Up to about 500 microns.
Key Characters: Buccal tube short and very wide (22% of length), wrinkled cuticle, and other morphometric characters.
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: Stream sediment.
Abundance: Rare. In Bartels et al. 2016, only 4 specimens were found out of 344 total tardigrades collected in 10 species.
Diet: Probably carnivorous.
Reproduction: Eggs laid externally, no eggs have been recorded.
Observation Methods: PC, DIC microscopy
Wikipedia

 Photo Gallery for Dactylobiotus haplonyx - No common name

Photos: 8

Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Habitus, DIC		Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus, ventral (constriction of buccal tube is an artifact)
Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Claws III and IV. DIC		Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Drawings from Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Claws IV		Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Habitus, DIC
Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus, lateral. PC		Recorded by: Claudia Mormino on 2016-05-03
Transylvania Co.
Comment: Oral lamellae, PC