Macrobiotus iharosi Pilato, Binda & Catanzaro, 1991

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, 2017, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part IV: Africa, Zootaxa 4284 (1), pp. 1-74 : 46-47

128. Macrobiotus iharosi Pilato, Binda & Catanzaro, 1991 [T]

Macrobiotus iharosi n. sp. (Pilato et al. 1991)

Macrobiotus iharosi Pilato, Binda & Catanzaro 1991 ( Binda & Pilato 1995a, Pilato et al. 2003) Terra typica : Tanzania (Africa)

Democratic Republic of Congo:

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

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

Republic of South Africa:

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

Tanzania:

• 03°09′S, 35°29′E: Type Locality: Undefined locality, Arusha Region, Ngorongoro Volcano, mosses. Pilato et al. (1991)

• 03°12′S, 37°31′E; 2,200–2,400 m asl: Kilimanjaro Region, near Marangu [gate], outskirts of the entrance of Kilimanjaro National Park, mosses. Binda & Pilato (1995a)

Record numbers. Democratic Republic of Congo: 2, Republic of South Africa: 1, Tanzania: 2; total: 5.

Remarks. Like other members of the hufelandi group, this species requires careful taxonomic analysis, including egg morphology, to properly differentiate the individual species (see Bertolani & Rebecchi 1993 for the review). This recently described species is currently reported from central and southern Africa.