Itaquascon pisoniae, Pilato, Giovanni & Lisi, Oscar, 2009

Pilato, Giovanni & Lisi, Oscar, 2009, Description of three new species of Tardigrada from the Seychelles, Zootaxa 2005, pp. 24-34 : 30-33

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.185660

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5632326

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/AE403205-FF95-FF99-5C89-FA5272F2FEC7

treatment provided by

Plazi

scientific name

Itaquascon pisoniae
status

sp. nov.

Itaquascon pisoniae View in CoL sp. n.

Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4

Material examined: Silhouette ( Pisonia forest): holotype and 1 paratype from a soil sample (collected 07.08.2000) sent by Justin Gerlach.

Type repository. The holotype (slide N. 5099) and paratype are deposited in the collection of Binda & Pilato (Museo del Dipartimento di Biologia Animale “Marcello La Greca”, Università di Catania).

Species diagnosis. Cuticle smooth without pores, eye spots absent; pbf index relative to the buccal tube higher than 50 (about 55); pharyngeal apophyses and placoids absent; stylet furcae very small; base of claws slightly enlarged but without well-developed lateral processes; lunules absent; a very faint cuticular bar near the internal claws on the first three pairs of legs; no cuticular thickening present on the hind legs.

Description of the holotype. Body elongate, slender, tapering anteriorly, 270 μm long; colorless; eye spots absent; cuticle smooth without pores. Bucco-pharyngeal apparatus of Itaquascon type ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 A), i.e., with a rigid buccal tube, without ventral lamina, dorsal and ventral apophyses for the insertion of the stylet muscles in the shape of flat ridges; flexible pharyngeal tube with a spiral thickening; peribuccal lamellae and papulae absent; stylet supports present, but very difficult to see, inserted between the buccal and the pharyngeal tube. Bucco-pharyngeal tube 41 μm long; buccal tube 22.7 μm (pbf = 55.4) long and 2.1 μm wide externally (pt = 9.2). Pharyngeal bulb oval (18 μm long and 10.5 μm wide), without apophyses or placoids. Stylets 16 μm long; stylet supports inserted at the end of the buccal tube (pt = 100); stylet furcae small triangular in shape, with two short tapering caudal processes ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 A).

Claws of Hypsibius type ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 B–D); external and internal claws differing in shape and size; main branches with accessory points. The base is slightly enlarged but without well-developed lateral processes ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 D). On the first pair of legs the external claw length is 11.8 μm (pt = 52.0) and internal claw length 6.9 μm (pt = 30.4); the claws on both second and third pair of legs are: external 14.2 μm (pt = 62.6) and internal 8.6 μm (pt = 37.9); and on the hind legs the posterior claw is 14.5 μm (pt = 63.9) and anterior claw 9.0 μm long (pt = 39.6). For additional measurements see Table 3 View TABLE 3 . Lunules are absent; a faint cuticular bar is present near the internal claws on the first three pairs of legs, but sometimes these structures are very difficult to see and may appear absent.

Eggs not found.

The paratype is similar to the holotype in both qualitative and metric characters ( Table 3 View TABLE 3 ).

I. pisoniae sp. n. holotype I. pisoniae sp. n. paratype I. placophorum Etymology. The name pisoniae refers to the generic name of the plant forming the Pisonia forest where the new species has been found.

Remarks. Six species within the genus Itaquascon have buccal tube shorter than half of the total length of the bucco-pharyngeal tube (pbf <50). These are: I. umbellinae , I. globuliferum Abe & Ito, 1994 , I. unguiculum , I. cambewarrense , I. biserovi and I. pawlowski Weglarska, 1973 ). Only three species (I.

placophorum View in CoL , I. mongolicum Kaczmarek, Michalczyk & Weglarska, 2002 and I. pisoniae View in CoL sp. n.) have pbf index higher than 50.

Itaquascon pisoniae View in CoL sp. n. differs from I. placophorum View in CoL by having smooth cuticle, shorter claws ( Table 3 View TABLE 3 ), by the absence of placoids and by the absence of a cuticular bar between the claws of the hind legs.

It differs from I. mongolicum by the absence of lunules and by the presence of a cuticular bar (sometimes very difficult to see) near the internal claws of the first three pair of legs.

TABLE 3. Measurements (in μm), and values of the pt index, of some structures of holotype and paratype of Itaquascon pisoniae sp. n. and of one specimen of Itaquascon placophorum.

Body length 270 310 ?
Bucco-pharyngeal tube 41 45.5 45.6
Buccal tube length 22.7 24.9 24.9
pbf 55.4 54.7 54.6
Buccal tube external width 2.1 2.0 2.9
pt 9.2 8.0 11.7
Stylet supports 22.7 24.9 23.9
pt 100 100 96.0
External claw I 11.8 ? 18.2
pt 52.0 ? 73.1
Ext. claw I main branch 8.4 ? ?
%/tot 71.2 ? ?
Internal claw I 7,0 ? ?
pt 30.8 ? ?
Int. claw I main branch 4.4 ? ?
%/tot 62.0 ? ?
Int/ext % 59.3 ? ?
External claw III 14.0 14.5 22.8
pt 61.7 58.2 91.6
Ext. claw III main branch 9.6 10.0 ?
% tot. 68.6 69.0 ?
Internal claw III 8.2 9.2 13.7
pt 36.1 36.9 55.0
Int. claw III main branch 4.8 5.1 ?
%/tot 58.5 55.4 ?
Int./ext. % 58.6 63.4 60.1
Posterior claw IV 14.5 15.4 ?
pt 63.9 61.8 ?
Post. claw IV main branch 10.0 10.9 ?
% tot 69.0 70.8 ?
Anterior claw IV 8.9 ? ?
pt 39.2 ? ?
Ant. claw IV main branch 5.2 ? ?
% tot 58.4 ? ?
Ant/post % 61.4 ? ?

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Tardigrada

Class

Eutardigrada

Order

Parachela

Family

Hypsibiidae

Genus

Itaquascon

Loc

Itaquascon pisoniae

Pilato, Giovanni & Lisi, Oscar 2009
2009
Loc

I. mongolicum

Kaczmarek, Michalczyk & Weglarska 2002
2002
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