Milnesium tardigradum Doyère, 1840

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, 2017, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part IV: Africa, Zootaxa 4284 (1), pp. 1-74 : 20-22

46. Milnesium tardigradum Doyère, 1840 sensu lato [T] [m]

M. tardigradum Doy. ( Murray 1907a, Pardi 1941)

Arctiscon tardigradum Schrank ( Murray 1913)

M. tardigradum Doy.? 1812 ( Marcus (1936)

Milnesium tardigradum ( Franceschi 1957)

Milnesium tardigradum Doyère 1840 (da Cunha & do Nascimento 1964, Pilato et al. 2003) Milnesium tardigradum ( Ramløv & Kristensen 1985)

Milnesium tardigradum Doyere, 1840 ( Middleton 2003)

Milnesium tardigradum Doyère, 1840 ( Gąsiorek et al. 2017)

Terra typica : France (Europe), terra neotypica: Germany (Europe)

Angola:

• 07°47′S, 15°01′E; 650 m asl: Uíge Province, near Carmona [Uíge], Estate at Pumba Loge, mosses and lichens. da Cunha & do Nascimento (1964)

• 14°55′S, 13°30′E; 1,750 m asl: Huíla Province, surroundings of Sá da Bandeira [Lubango], mosses and lichens. da Cunha & do Nascimento (1964)

Botswana:

• 19°10′S, 23°25′E; 950 m asl: North West District, Moremi , moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

• 24°25′S, 25°31′E; 1,150 m asl: Kweneng District, Molepolole , moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003) Democratic Republic of Congo:

• 00°04′S, 29°18′E; 1,950 m asl: North Kivu Province, outskirts of Lukanga, lichen. Pilato et al. (2003)

• 01°10′S, 28°28′E; 1,000 m asl: North Kivu Province, outskirts of Mohanga, moss ( Entodon sp.). Pilato et al. (2003)

Ethiopia:

• 04°03′N, 38°19′E; 1,700 m asl: Oromia Region, Mēga, moss ( Neckera sp.) on tree ( Juniperus procera), plant no 80, lichen, former English residence, moss on tree ( Juniperus procera) and lichen on tree (bark of Juniperus procera) (4 samples). Pardi (1941)

Israel and Palestinian National Authority:

• 31°48′N, 35°06′E; 700 m asl: Judean Mountains, Kiriath-Jearim [Kariathiarim], semi-humid climate. Rahm (1936)

• 31°46′N, 35°12′E; 750 m asl: Judean Mountains, Jerusalem, Monastery of the Cross , garden in Katamin , semi-humid climate, lichen ( Xanthoria parietina L.) on olive tree. Rahm (1936)

Jordan:

• 31°50′N, 36°49′E; 500 m asl: Zarqa Governorate, Zarqa [Azarq Wetland Reserve], moss. Kaczmarek & Michalczyk (2004a)

Kenya:

• 00°01′S, 37°54′E: Undefined locality, British East Africa [ Kenya], moss. Murray (1913)

Lesotho:

• 29°19′S, 27°29′E; 1,550 m asl: Maseru District, Maseru, moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

• 29°35′S, 29°17′E; 2,900 m asl: Thaba-Tseka District, Sani Pass , lichen on stone fence. Meyer & Hinton (2009)

• 29°38′S, 27°31′E; 1,750 m asl: Maseru District, Morija , moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

Morocco:

• 33°31′N, 05°07′W; 1,650 m asl: Meknès-Tafilalet Region, Ras al Ma [Res el Ma], mosses trees ( Cedrus ) and rocks. Séméria (1986)

• 33°27′N, 05°13′W; 1,250 m asl: Meknès-Tafilalet Region, ca. 30 [60] km S of Meknes, Azrou , lichens. Séméria (1986)

• 32°25′N, 05°13′W; 1,750 m asl: Meknès-Tafilalet Region, S of Azrou , cedar forest, mosses on limestone boulders and basalt in the forest glade (2 samples). Ramløv & Kristensen (1985)

• 30°27′N, 07°32′W; 1,850 m asl: Souss-Massa-Drâa Region, Tizi-n-Taghatine , sparse vegetation, mosses and lichens on isolated basalt cliffs. Ramløv & Kristensen (1985)

Namibia:

• 20°28′S, 16°39′E; 1,500 m asl: Otjozondjupa Region, Otjiwarongo. Marcus (1936)

Republic of South Africa:

• 23°03′S, 29°54′E; 950 m asl: Limpopo Province, Louis Trihardt , moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

• 25°45′S, 28°11′E; 1,300 m asl: Gauteng Province, Pretoria , moss. Murray (1913)

• 29°38′S, 27°31′E [25°32′S, 26°05′E]; 1,250 m asl: North West Province, Rustenberg [Rustenburg], moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

• 25°39′S, 27°10′E; 1,300 m asl: North West Province, Rustenberg [ Rustenburg ], moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

• 25°58′S, 27°32′E [25°59′S, 27°33′E]; 1,400 m asl: Gauteng Province, Magaliseberg [Magaliesburg], moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

• 26°18′S, 26°55′E [26°19′S, 26°49′E]; 1,500 m asl: North West Province, Ventersdorp, moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

• 28°13′S, 31°57′E; 350 m asl: KwaZulu-Natal Province, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Park , lichen on tree ( Acacia ). Meyer & Hinton (2009)

• 29°44′S, 22°44′E: Undefined locality, Cape Colony [Cape Province]. Murray (1907a)

• 29°44′S, 30°32′E; 750 m asl: KwaZulu-Natal Province, Tala Private Game Reserve , lichen on tree ( Acacia ). Meyer & Hinton (2009)

Somalia:

• 11°20′N, 49°45′E; 2,000 m asl: Bari Region, Migiurtinia, Uar Medò mountain group [ Warmadoow ] lichen. Franceschi (1957)

Tunisia:

• 36°57′N, 08°45′E; 0 m asl: Jendouba Governorate, surroundings of Tabarka. Binda & Pilato (1987)

• 36°07′N, 08°30′E; 350 m asl: Kef Governorate, road between El Kef and Sakiet, 23 km W El Kef, Qued el Kohl, scrub, sparse vegetation, with stony ground and thin layer of surface soil, soil with vegetable debris or litter under trees ( Pinus halepensis and Juniperus phoenicus ). Iharos (1978)

• 36°07′N, 08°32′E; 450 m asl: Kef Governorate, along road from El Kef and Sakiet, “strongly insolated area”, lichen on soil. Iharos (1978)

• 36°22'55''N, 10°07'03''E; 357 m asl: Zaghouan Governorate, Zaghouan, forest, moss on soil. Gąsiorek et al. (2017)

Uganda:

• 01°22′N, 32°17′E: Undefined locality. Murray (1913)

Zimbabwe:

• 20°30′S, 30°30′E [20°16′S, 30°56′E]; 1,150 m asl: Masvingo Province, Great Zimbabwe, moss or lichen on tree or rock.

Middleton (2003)

• 20°49′S, 30°30′E [20°30′S, 28°26′E]; 1,400 m asl: Matabeleland South Province, Matopos, moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

Record numbers. Angola: 2, Botswana: 2, Democratic Republic of Congo: 2, Ethiopia: 1, Israel and Palestinian National Authority: 3, Jordan ; 1, Kenya: 1, Lesotho: 3, Morocco: 4, Namibia: 1, Republic of South Africa: 9, Somalia: 1, Tunisia: 4, Uganda: 1, Zimbabwe: 2; total: 37.

Remarks. For over 150 years Milnesium was considered to be a monotypic, highly cosmopolitan genus. However, current research recognises over twenty congeners and suggests that Milnesium tardigradum sensu stricto is confined to the Palaearctic (see: Michalczyk et al. 2012a,b). All African reports of M. tardigradum pre-date the re-description of M. tardigradum sensu stricto ( Michalczyk et al. 2012a,b) and therefore these records should be questioned and re-examination using modern taxonomy. Currently, there is no evidence to confirm or deny the presence of M. tardigradum s. s. in Africa, and the above list probably represents a number of different Milnesium species ( Michalczyk et al. 2012a,b).