Styraconyx hallasi Kristensen, 1977

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, Bartels, Paul J., Roszkowska, Milena & Nelson, Diane R., 2015, The Zoogeography of Marine Tardigrada, Zootaxa 4037 (1), pp. 1-189 : 101-102

109. Styraconyx hallasi Kristensen, 1977

Styraconyx hallasi n. sp. ( Kristensen 1977)

S. hallasi Kristensen, 1977 (D’Addabbo Gallo et al. 1987)

Terra typica: Baffin Bay ( Greenland, Arctic)

Baffin Bay:

• 69°29′N, 53°57′E; 0 m bsl: [FAO27] West Greenland, Disko Island, Diskofjord, Tarajungitsok, radioactive, warm spring. Kristensen & Higgins (1984a)

• 69°16′N, 53°38′W; 0 m bsl: [FAO21] Type locality: West Greenland, Qaasuitsup municipality, Disko Island, the littoral zone between Godhavn and Fortune Bay, a small warm spring near Engelskomandens Havn, bluegreen and green algae. Kristensen (1977), Kristensen & Higgins (1984a)

Ionian Sea:

• 39°52′27′′N, 16°43′25′′E; 20–80 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Cosenza Province, High Ionian Sea offshore, Calabrian Coast, Amendolara Shoal, coralligenous sand, coralligenous sand mixed with debris, coarse medium or fine coralligenous sand (few samples). D’Addabbo Gallo et al. (1987)

Record numbers (Sea/Ocean classification): Baffin Bay: 2, Ionian Sea: 1; total: 3.

Record numbers (FAO classification): FAO21: 1, FAO27: 1, FAO37: 1; total: 3.

Remarks: This species from the hallasi group was described from warm, radioactive, freshwater or slightly salty springs along the coast of Greenland, and later it was reported from the subtidal zone in the Ionian Sea. In our opinion, based on the specific habitat of the type locality, the presence of this species in marine subtidal environments of the Ionian Sea needs confirmation. It is the only example of a member of a marine genus in freshwater habitats (but see also Echiniscoides s. sigismundi ).