Austeruseus

Trygvadóttir, Birna Vár & Kristensen, Reinhardt Møbjerg, 2011, Eohypsibiidae (Eutardigrada, Tardigrada) from the Faroe Islands with the description of a new genus containing three new species, Zootaxa 2886, pp. 39-62 : 44-45

Genus: Austeruseus , nov. gen.

Diagnosis. Eohypsibiidae with a rigid straight, buccal tube. The mouth is tubular, not trumpet-shaped as in Bertolanius Özdikmen, 2008 and Eohypsibius Kristensen, 1982 . Lateral on the buccal tube are 2 to 6 hook-shaped appendages present for insertion of the stylet muscles. Ventral strengthening bar absent, but cuticular enforcement can be seen as a thin line. Mouth opening with 14 peribuccal lamellae. Claws of the Eohypsibiidae type. Eggs ornamented and deposited free.

Composition. Austeruseus faeroensis , nov. sp. (type species), Austeruseus balduri , nov. sp. and Austeruseus rokuri , nov. sp.

Etymology. austerus (latin) – rigid, pertaining to the rigid buccal tube.

Differential diagnosis. The genus Austeruseus can be distinguished from Bertolanius and Eohypsibius by the buccal-pharyngeal apparatus, which is slender (pt buccal tube width 8.3–14.4) and straight throughout its length, as opposed to being wide and trumpet-shaped in Bertolanius and Eohypsibius . Austeruseus does not possess posterior annulations on the buccal tube as seen in the genus Eohypsibius . The presence of 2 to 6 hook-shaped apophyses for the insertion of stylet muscles, compared with crest-shaped dorsal and ventral apophyses for the insertion of stylet muscles with two pairs of caudal hooks ( Eohypsibius ) or crest shaped apophyses for the insertion of stylet muscles with a single pair of caudal hooks ( Bertolanius ).