BATILLIPEDIDAE Ramazzotti, 1962

Fontoura, Paulo, Bartels, Paul J., Jørgensen, Aslak, Kristensen, Reinhardt Møbjerg & Hansen, Jesper Guldberg, 2017, A dichotomous key to the genera of the Marine Heterotardigrades (Tardigrada), Zootaxa 4294 (1), pp. 1-45 : 25-26

1.2 BATILLIPEDIDAE Ramazzotti, 1962 (emended by Gallo d’Addabbo et al. 2005)

Arthrotardigrada with a trapezoid head divided into three parts: two lateroventral triangular lobes bearing all the cephalic cirri (except the medial cirrus) along with the primary and secondary clavae, and a central lobate portion with the medial cirrus.

15. In the terminology of this key “internal accessory point” = secondary point.

Simple cephalic cirri with lance-like or frayed tips. Tubular primary clavae with or without one or more constrictions; papillar secondary clavae, not always evident. Lipoid eye spots sometimes present. Stylet supports always present. Lateral intermetamerical processes present or absent. Legs digitate with four or six toes, according to the age, bearing terminal adhesive discs. Claws absent. Sense organs present on all the legs. Cirrus E dorsal to the fourth pair of legs. A longitudinal groove generally present between the rosette-like female gonopore and the anus. Single internal seminal receptacle16 sometimes present, opposite the oviduct. Circular male gonopore covered with a crescent fold. Caudal apparatus present or absent. Cuticular punctations, consisting of pillars in the epicuticle, always present. Dorsal cuticular pillars always higher than the ventral ones.

1.2.1 Batillipes Richters, 1909 ( Figs 3 E, 7I, 14G)

Generic diagnosis as that of the family.

Type species: Batillipes mirus Richters, 1909

Selected literature for further information: Pollock (1970) defined patterns of toe length of Batillipes species, and Pollock (1971) included an early key to this genus. McKirdy (1975) summarized and discussed the taxonomic characters within the genus. Kristensen (1978) introduced new characters for the genus Batillipes using the electron microscope. Rho et al. (1999) provided a more recent key, but only covered Korean species. Kristensen & Mackness (2000) suggested a toe formula for all known species at that time. See also Jørgensen et al. (2014), Menechella et al. (2015), Rubal et al. (2016), and Menechella et al. (2017) for a comprehensive key to all known species.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Foot and claw morphology. A. Generalised leg. B. Chimaeric foot showing various claw configurations. External claw at left of image has a single point (sometimes called a “ simple claw “), the next internal claw has two points, and the final two claws have three points. C. Paratanarctus foot, redrawn from D’Addabbo Gallo et al. (1992). D. Mutaparadoxipus foot, redrawn from Gross et al. (2014). E. Batillipes foot, redrawn from Kristensen & Mackness (2000). F. Megastygarctides foot, redrawn from Hansen & Kristensen (2006). ap = accessory point, bm = basal membrane, cl = claw, co = coxa, cr = calcar, cs = claw sheath, db = disc brace, dc = disc, de = distal stalk enlargement, di = digit, ed = external digit, fe = femur, id = internal digit, pa = adhesive pad, pe = peduncle, pp = primary point, ppa = proximal adhesive pad, pta = pretarsus, sp = secondary point. ta = tarsus, ti = tibia, to = toe.