Echiniscus merokensis Richters, 1904d

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, Michalczyk, Łukasz & Mcinnes, Sandra J., 2015, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part II: South America, Zootaxa 3923 (1), pp. 1-107 : 18

33. Echiniscus merokensis Richters, 1904d sensu lato [T]

Echiniscus merokensis Richters, 1904 ( Maucci 1988)

Echiniscus merokensis Richters, 1904 ( Binda & Pilato 1999b)

Terra typica: Norway (Europe)

Argentina:

• 39°14′S, 70°55′W; 950 m asl: Neuquén Province, Abra Ancha, Aluminé, lichen and moss on soil (2 samples). Rossi et al. (2009)

• 50°06′S, 73°18′W; 200 m asl: Santa Cruz Province, Los Glaciares National Park, shores of Argentino Lake, near the Onelli glacier, Nothofagus forests, in the shade, mosses and lichens on trees and rocks. Maucci (1988)

• 50°28′S, 73°01′W; 300 m asl: Santa Cruz province, Los Glaciares National Park, shores of Lake Argentino, near the Perito Moreno glacier, Nothofagus forest, in the shade, mosses. Maucci (1988)

• 54°17′S, 66°42′W; 50 m asl: Tierra del Fuego Province, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, outskirts of Cabo San Pablo, peatmoss. Binda & Pilato (1999b)

Chile:

• 50°59′S, 73°00′W; 1,200 m asl: Region XII Magallanes (Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), Torres del Paine National Park, mosses on trees and rocks, nearly all in half sunlight. Maucci (1988)

• 51°34′S, 72°36′W; 200 m asl: Region XII Magallanes (Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), Ultima Esperanza, near Cueva del Milodón, mosses on rocks, in sunlight. Maucci (1988)

• 51°44′S, 72°30′W; 0 m asl: Region XII Magallanes (Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena), Puerto Natales, mosses on trees and rocks. Maucci (1988)

Record numbers: Argentina: 4, Chile: 3; total: 7.

Remarks: Reports of E. merokensis exhibit a great deal of morphological variation, suggesting a species complex. Moreover, the Holarctic type locale and majority of records ( Ramazzotti & Maucci 1983, McInnes 1994a), suggests this species requires a re-examination of type material and, confirmation of the South American records.