Echiniscus viridis Murray, 1910 sensu

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, Michalczyk, Łukasz & Mcinnes, Sandra J., 2015, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part II: South America, Zootaxa 3923 (1), pp. 1-107 : 23

50. Echiniscus viridis Murray, 1910 sensu lato [T]

E. (E.) viridis Murray, 1910 ( Claps & Rossi 1981)

E. (E.) viridis J. Murray, 1910 (du Bois-Reymond Marcus 1944)

Terra typica: Oahu Island (Hawaii, USA, Pacific Ocean)

Argentina:

• 40°50′S, 71°38′W; 900 m asl: Neuquén Province, Peninsula de Quetrihue, semi-wet and dry, mosses on tree in coppice, mosses on rock and soil in the forest and lichens on trees (4 samples). Claps & Rossi (1981)

Brazil:

• 21°49′S, 49°05′W: Undefined localities in São Paulo State. Marcus (1939)

• 23°57′S, 46°19′W; 0 m asl: São Paulo State, Santos, mosses near canal few meters from the sea. du Bois-Reymond Marcus (1944)

Venezuela:

• 10°25′N, 67°34′W; 1,130 m asl: Region Central, Aragua, Henri Pittier National Park, Rancho Grande, tropical rainforest, mosses, lichens or liverworts on plants or mineral substrates. Grigarick et al. (1983)

Record numbers: Argentina: 1, Brazil: 2, Venezuela: 1; total: 4.

Remarks: This is the nominal species for the viridis group that was recently re-described (Pilato et al. 2007). Given the limited morphological diversity within the group, the species could easily be misidentified with other members of the complex (Pilato et al. 2007). We suggest that the South American records are reexamined using modern taxonomic criteria.