Tardigrades of North Carolina
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View PDFEchiniscidae Members: 336 NC Records

Echiniscus virginicus Riggin, 1962 - No Common Name


Taxonomy
Class: HeterotardigradaOrder: Echiniscoidea Family: Echiniscidae Checklist Number: 2030.0
Taxonomic Comments: Considered a pseudocryptic species with E. lineatus that is pantropical. Only morphological distinction is different cuticle pore structure observable with SEM. TN specimens (and from other eastern US states) positively identified as E. virginicus by DNA analysis (Gasiorek et al. 2019).
Species Notes: Terrestrial. Eastern US, Caribbean, Central Am. and Venezuela.
Identification
Online resources:Online Photographs: Google, GBIF                                                                                 
Species Description: Length up to 183 microns, sculpture composed of a dense granulation. Presence or absence of eye spots and coloration of the tardigrade not indicated by the author. The internal and external buccal cirri are slender filaments, the cephalic papilla is well developed. The lateral appendices are spines C, D, E (respectively 18-22 microns (12-21.6 microns, 21.6-25 microns long) with enlarged bases; dorsally, exists short, robust spines cd (7 microns) and Dd (10,8-14.4 microns). Median plate 3 present, terminal plate not facetted, with the usual two notches. Dentate collar with 9 teeth on the fourth pair of legs; internal claws of all the legs with strong spur curved in proximal direction, positioned at considerable distance from the base of the claw. The description of the author does not cite the presence of papilla on the 4th pair of legs and of the spine on the 1st pair, which on the other hand are not figured even on the drawing and which should then be considered absent.

The sculpture is in fact clearly different from that of E. quadrispinosus, and consists of rounded or polygonal pores, small, very dense and regularly distributed. The lateral appendices are filaments A and robust spines C, D, and E. Dorsally there are very short spines C, at times hardly a hint or even absent, and spines D which may even become considerably long and robust. The spine on the first pair of legs, and the papilla on the fourth (not mentioned in the first description) are in reality absent.

-Ramazzotti & Maucci 1982
Body Length: up to 183 microns
Key Characters: Body yellow in live specimen, no eyes, lateral spines on C,D & E.
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: Tree lichen and tree moss, less commonly in other terrestrial habitats.
Abundance: Abundant, making up 6.77% of terrestrial specimens in Bartels' smokies survey. Common in Nelson's Roan Mt. survey, where it was reported as Echiniscus quadrispinosus (Nelson 1975 and pers. comm.)
Diet: Herbivorous, feeding on algae.
Reproduction: No males have been reported. Smooth eggs deposited in shed exuvium.
Observation Methods: DIC and PC microscopy.
Wikipedia

 Photo Gallery for Echiniscus virginicus - No common name

Photos: 4

Recorded by: Bartels on 2021-05-15
Buncombe Co.
Comment: SEM by Nigel Marley		Recorded by: Bartels on 2021-05-15
Buncombe Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Bartels on 2021-05-15
Buncombe Co.
Comment: UV Autofluorescence		Recorded by: Bartels on 2021-05-15
Buncombe Co.
Comment: Drawings from Riggin, 1962