Tardigrades of North Carolina
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View PDFMurrayidae Members: 7 NC Records

Murrayon hastatus (Murray, 1907) - No Common Name


Habitus, PC
Taxonomy
Class: EutardigradaOrder: Parachela Family: Murrayidae Checklist Number: 1950.0 Synonym: Murrayon cf. hastatus, Murrayon cf. pullari, Murrayon pullari (see Bartels et al. 2021), Hypsibius hastatus Thulin, 1928
Taxonomic Comments: Morphologically indistinguishable from species originally described from Europe, no molecular evidence for further comparison. Eggs needed for positive ID.
Species Notes: Freshawater. In US, only recorded from Alaska, Kansas and GSMNP and surrounding areas.
Identification
Online resources:Online Photographs: Google, GBIF                                                                                 
Species Description: This is an aquatic species, very wide-spread for example in moss of peat-bogs. Length up to 312 µm, eye spots present. Buccal tube medium wide (diameter about 4.5 µm), pharynx oval containing the apophyses and 2, or else 3, macroplacoids; microplacoid absent. In general the macroplacoids are 2: the first is longer than the second and is constricted toward the middle, or more caudally, so it appears broken sometimes simulating two distinct macroplacoids in contact with each other; other times the macroplacoids are really three and in such case 1 and 2 are very close, 3 is separated and shorter than 1 + 2. Doubleclaws of the echinogenitus type (a V), with small lunule at the base; principal branch with two accessory points. Eggs, deposited free and very characteristic, round or oval, with diameter about 62-75 µm excluding the ornamentations and 75-90 µm including the latter. The egg possesses an external transparent zone, in which is immersed – in all or in part – the projections of goblet shape, of heraldic fleur-de-lis, etc. The female has clear, but not absolute tendency to deposit eggs – two or three at a time – in the interior of foreign body cavities, for example in shells of Ostracods or Cladocera, in the molt of Acarina (exuvia), etc. The species was collected in water and in submerged moss in various European localities, Italy included, as well as Sumatra (Typ. loc.: Scotland and Switzerland).
-Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983
Body Length: Up to 312 microns.
Key Characters: Eyespots present, smooth cuticle, two macroplaooids and first is constricted (length 1>2), and egg morphology.
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.
Abundance: Common. This species makes up 4.65% of aquatic specimens collected in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Bartels' inventory.
Diet: Diatom found in gut, herbivorous or possibly omnivorous.
Reproduction: Ornamented eggs deposited externally, sometimes found in shells of ostracods or cladocerans.
Observation Methods: PC and DIC.
Wikipedia

 Photo Gallery for Murrayon hastatus - No common name

Photos: 4

Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-04-07
Haywood Co.
Comment: Habitus, PC		Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-04-07
Haywood Co.
Comment: Hagitus, lateral, PC
Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-04-07
Haywood Co.
Comment: Claws, DIC		Recorded by: Bartels on 2002-04-07
Haywood Co.
Comment: Buccal apparatus, DIC