Echiniscus vinculus Horning, Schuster & Grigarick, 1978

Pilato, Giovanni, Binda, Maria Grazia & Lisi, Oscar, 2005, Remarks on some Echiniscidae (Heterotardigrada) from New Zealand with the description of two new species, Zootaxa 1027 (1), pp. 27-45 : 27-45

Echiniscus vinculus Horning, Schuster & Grigarick, 1978 ( Fig. 1 )

Material examined: Chatham Island , Waterfall Creek: 1 paratype from a sample of Porella elegantula (hepatics) on a dead tree .

Remarks: Horning et al. (1978) in the description of the species, wrote: “dorsal plates with either granules or irregular pores, but large areas of scapular and terminal plates smooth”. In the examined paratype it is possible to note that the granules are of different size, and that each of them is surrounded by 5–8 small pores; therefore the granules are joined to one another by thin lines ( Fig. 1 A, B ). The sculpture is less regular on the head plate, on the anterior portion of the scapular plate and on the terminal plate. Smooth areas are present on the scapular ( Fig. 1 A ) and terminal plates ( Fig. 1 B ); in addition, a smooth transversal band is present on the paired plates II and III and on the median plate 2, and along the posterior margins of all plates. The neck plate is a narrow, sclerotised area without sculpture ( Fig. 1 A ). Lateral to the scapular plate and to the paired plates II and III a small sculptured area is present ( Fig. 1 A, B ). According to Horning et al. (1978), a small papilla is present on the first pair of legs, but we did not find it, and neither did Claxton (1996), who examined two paratypes.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Echiniscus vinculus (paratype): A, B, details of the plate sculpture. Scale bar = 10 m.