Mopsechiniscus franciscae, a new species of a rare genus of Tardigrada from continental Antarctica

Guidetti, Roberto; Rebecchi, Lorena; Cesari, Michele; McInnes, Sandra J.

doi:10.1007/s00300-014-1514-x

Cited by 37 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Animals and eggs were extracted from mosses in all collected samples according to Guidetti et al . (). Animals and eggs were mounted on slides in Faure‐Berlese fluid for light microscopy observations, using phase contrast and differential interference contrast, with a Leica DM RB microscope equipped with a Nikon DS‐Fi 1 digital camera.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Specimens of Richtersius from Öland (Sweden), Greenland, Mongolia, and Pratignano (northern Italy 1) were prepared for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) according to Guidetti et al . (), and observed with a Philips SEM XL 40, available at the ‘Centro Interdipartimentale Grandi Strumenti’ at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Morphological and molecular analyses onRichtersius(Eutardigrada) diversity reveal its new systematic position and lead to the establishment of a new genus and a new family within Macrobiotoidea

et al. 2016

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Important contributions have been made to the systematics of Eutardigrada in recent years, but these have also revealed that several taxa are polyphyletic and that cryptic species are present. To shed light on the taxonomy and systematic position of the genus Richtersius (Eutardigrada, Macrobiotoidea), six populations attributed to Richtersius coronifer were collected and analysed from morphological (light and scanning electron microscopy) and molecular (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1, 18S, 28S) points of view. In particular, a new morphometric index (claw common tract: length of the common tract of the claw/total claw length 9 100) and a new morphological character (stalk system) were introduced. Our integrative study was able to unveil the 'cryptic' species diversity within Richtersius, showing that the genus contains more than one evolutionary lineage. A morphological peculiarity in the animals of all lineages is the dimorphism in the morphology of the cuticle. Cuticular pores are present in the newborns and are lost with the first moult; this morphological change represents a novelty in the life cycle of eutardigrades. The phylogenetic analyses carried out on Richtersius populations and other Macrobiotoidea show that Richtersius is closely related to Macrobiotus islandicus, whereas Adorybiotus granulatus is more related to Richtersius and M. islandicus than to other members of the genus Macrobiotus (type genus of Macrobiotidae); therefore, the genus Macrobiotus and the family Macrobiotidae are not monophyletic. Based on these results, the new genus Diaforobiotus (for M. islandicus) and the new family Richtersiidae (composed of Richtersius, Diaforobiotus gen. nov., and Adorybiotus) are established.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological and molecular analyses onRichtersius(Eutardigrada) diversity reveal its new systematic position and lead to the establishment of a new genus and a new family within Macrobiotoidea

et al. 2016

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“…Mopsechiniscus franciscae Guidetti et al, 2014 was recently discovered in Victoria Land, Antarctica (Guidetti et al, 2014;Fig. 1), and represents one of the only three heterotardigrade species found in continental Antarctica.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary scenarios for the origin of an Antarctic tardigrade species based on molecular clock analyses and biogeographic data

Guidetti

McInnes

Cesari

et al. 2017

CTOZ

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The origin of the Antarctic continental extant fauna is a highly debated topic, complicated by the paucity of organisms for which we have clear biogeographic distributions and understanding of their evolutionary timescale. To shed new light on this topic, we coupled molecular clock analyses with biogeographic studies on the heterotardigrade genus Mopsechiniscus. This taxon includes species with endemic distributions in Antarctica and other regions of the southern hemisphere. Molecular dating using different models and calibration priors retrieved similar divergence time for the split between the Antarctic and South American Mopsechiniscus lineages (32–48 Mya) and the estimated age of the Drake Passage opening that led to the separation of Antarctica and South America. Our divergence estimates are congruent with other independent studies in dating Gondwanan geological events. Although different analyses retrieved similar results for the internal relationships within the Heterotardigrada, our results indicated that the molecular dating of tardigrades using genes coding for ribosomal RNA (18S and 28S rDNA) is a complex task, revealed by a very wide range of posterior density and a relative difficulty in discriminating between competing models. Overall, our study indicates that Mopsechiniscus is an ancient genus with a clear Gondwanan distribution, in which speciation was probably directed by a cooccurrence of vicariance and glacial events.

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“…Studies on Antarctic tardigrades started in the beginning of the twentieth century and have progressed rather slowly up to now. Currently, most of the 62 Antarctic tardigrades have been reported from continental Antarctic and the Antarctic Peninsula [for review see Convey and McInnes (2005) and later publications: Binda et al (2005), McInnes (2010), Pilato et al (2012a), Guidetti et al (2014), Kaczmarek et al (2014a), Tsujimoto et al (2014), Velasco-Castrillón et al (2014), Vecchi et al (2016)], and few from other regions. Moreover, little to nothing is known about possible spreading routes of tardigrades in maritime Antarctic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tardigrades from Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein, 1823 nests on the Argentine Islands (maritime Antarctic)

et al. 2017

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Tardigrada in Antarctic regions are poorly known. The aim of this study was to examine for tardigrades the nests material of the kelp gull (Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein, 1823) in maritime Antarctic and discuss the possible ways of migration and dispersion of tardigrades by birds. We also discuss the influence of bird's guano on the communities of microscopic invertebrates (mainly tardigrades). In the positive samples (mainly bryophytes and lichens) of seven Larus dominicanus nests, collected on Ardley Island (near Fildes Peninsula) and Argentine Islands, ca. 850 tardigrades and their eggs were found. In total, 13 taxa (including Ramajendas sp.) were identified, and four are new to science: Bryodelphax olszanowskii sp. nov., Diphascon puchalskii sp. nov., D. rudnickii sp. nov. and Hypsibius conwentzii sp. nov.. Bryodelphax olszanowskii sp. nov. differs from known Bryodelphax species in the weglarskae group mainly by having a different ventral plate configuration. Belonging to the pingue group, D. puchalskii sp. nov. differs from other species by some quantitative characters and D. rudnickii sp. nov. by having the first and second macroplacoids situated very close to each other. Hypsibius conwentzii sp. nov. differs from other species of the genus Hypsibius, with two macroplacoids and septulum, by some morphological and morphometric characters. Summarizing, Antarctic tardigrades are a very diverse group, and birds can be responsible for translocation of small invertebrates (including tardigrades) inside of various parts of plants and lichens. They also deposit large amounts of guano, which provides a lot of nutrients for poor tundra ecosystems and support small invertebrate communities.

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Mopsechiniscus franciscae, a new species of a rare genus of Tardigrada from continental Antarctica

Cited by 37 publications

References 29 publications

Morphological and molecular analyses onRichtersius(Eutardigrada) diversity reveal its new systematic position and lead to the establishment of a new genus and a new family within Macrobiotoidea

Morphological and molecular analyses onRichtersius(Eutardigrada) diversity reveal its new systematic position and lead to the establishment of a new genus and a new family within Macrobiotoidea

Evolutionary scenarios for the origin of an Antarctic tardigrade species based on molecular clock analyses and biogeographic data

Tardigrades from Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein, 1823 nests on the Argentine Islands (maritime Antarctic)

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