Macrobiotus persimilis Binda & Pilato 1972

Guil, Noemí, 2008, New records and within-species variability of Iberian tardigrades (Tardigrada), with comments on the species from the Echiniscus blumi-canadensis series, Zootaxa 1757, pp. 1-30 : 23

Macrobiotus persimilis Binda & Pilato 1972

This species showed cuticle with pores. The anterior band of teeth was not visible in all specimens; however, the posterior band of teeth and the transverse crest system were strong. This species, from the hufelandi group, had a small microplacoid. Lunules on the fourth pair of legs had such small teeth that in some specimens they appeared as irregular margins. I have found 16 animals and 3 eggs (in two out if three samples) only in MR samples, however four specimens from the sample without eggs had exactly the same morphology as the other Macrobiotus persimilis found. In this case, the specimens from site 31 (Table 3) should be named as Macrobiotus cf. persimilis . Eleven specimens had ocular spots while it was not possible to determine their presence or absence in five animals. Mean body size was 815 μm (SD 305), range 418 to 1375 μm. The species has been cited for Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Oceania. In the Iberian Peninsula, it has been recorded for Portugal ( Maucci & Durante Pasa 1985) and Spain ( Maucci & Durante Pasa 1984), but this is the first time to be found in Madrid ( Table 2 ). Macrobiotus persimilis was collected at three sampling points (Table 3).