NECOPINATIDAE Ramazzotti & Maucci, 1983

Pilato, Giovanni & Binda, Maria Grazia, 2010, Definition of families, subfamilies, genera and subgenera of the Eutardigrada, and keys to their identification, Zootaxa 2404, pp. 1-54 : 45

NECOPINATIDAE Ramazzotti & Maucci, 1983

Pilato (1971a), when originally describing the genus Necopinatum , considered it incertae sedis but Ramazzotti and Maucci (1983) instituted for it the family Necopinatidae . Currently the genus Apodibius is also ascribed to this family. In our opinion the family is allied with the family Calohypsibiidae and it may be defined as follows: eutardigrades without cephalic papillae; legs short and bilobate; claws absent or in the form of small forceps ( Fig. 26 A). Bucco-pharyngeal apparatus with rigid buccal tube with or without ventral lamina. When peribuccal structures are present, the sagittal plane passes between those structures. ( Fig. 26 C).

Figures

FIGURE 26. Claws and bucco-pharyngeal apparatuses of Necopinatidae. A, claws of Necopinatum; B, C, buccopharyngeal apparatus of the Apodibius type (B, in lateral view; C, in ventral view); D, E, bucco-pharyngeal apparatus of the Necopinatum type (D, in lateral view; E, in ventral view). (A, from Pilato, 1971 a; B, from Binda, 1984). dtht = dorsal thickening of the buccal tube; sp = sagittal plane.