Echiniscus lichenorum Maucci, 1983

Gąsiorek, Piotr & Vončina, Katarzyna, 2023, Atlas of the Echiniscidae (Heterotardigrada) of the World-part I: West Palaearctic Echiniscus species, Zootaxa 5344 (1), pp. 1-72 : 34-35

11. Echiniscus lichenorum Maucci, 1983

Figures 17 , 38

Locus typicus: Portugal, Algarve, Almancil.

Additional localities: A summary of the Iberian and South African localities provided in Gąsiorek et al. (2022). New record from Spain: 38°8’4”N, 2°34’32”W, 1530 m asl: Spain, Andalucía, Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas, mosses from rock in a pine forest, Piotr Gąsiorek & Witold Morek coll. on 23 rd April 2018 (3 ♀♀).

Etymology: From Latin lichenorum = associated with lichens. An adjective in nominative singular.

Shortened description: Medium-sized (ca. 180–315 μm, a collective range for both sexes). Body appendage configuration A-B-C-Cd- D-Dd, with trunk appendages formed as long spines (usually dorsal) or reduced cirri (typically lateral). Dorsal plate sculpturing most often developed as dark endocuticular matrix with pores of various sizes (resembling the quadrispinosus type of sculpturing, Fig. 17 ). Dentate collar IV with variable number of irregular teeth. Claws large, with thin, minute primary spurs ( Fig. 17 , insert).

Phylogenetic position:The species is firmly located within the mostly endemic South African clade of Echiniscus , being sister to E. similaris Gąsiorek et al., 2022 (Figs 1–2).

Remarks: The species is currently characterised by a disjunctive distribution range, with many records both from the Western Palaearctic and Afrotropical regions ( Gąsiorek et al. 2022). The phylogenetic reconstructions indicate that E. lichenorum speciated in Africa since it belongs to the mostly endemic South African clade (Figs 1–2).

Figures

FIGURE 17. Echiniscus lichenorum from Spain (PCM, female in dorsolateral view). Insert shows claws I and spine I, and arrowhead indicates an asymmetric lack of primary spur. Scale bars in μm.

FIGURE 38. Records of E. militaris (red circles) and E. lichenorum (yellow circles) from Europe. See Gąsiorek et al. 2022 for extra-European records of E. lichenorum.