Sexual reproductive behaviours of tardigrades: a review

Sugiura, Kenta; Matsumoto, Midori

doi:10.1080/07924259.2021.1990142

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The mating success of randomly assigned sexually mature M. polonicus pairs is considerably lower than would be expected based on the behavioral observation studies in three other macrobiotids ( Macrobiotus shonaicus Stec et al, 2018 , Paramacrobiotus metropolitanus Sugiura et al, 2022 , and Mesobiotus sp. ; reviewed in Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ). In the latter work, the complete mating interaction was initiated soon after the two individuals were placed close together, and completed within 30 min (Sugiura et al, 2019 ; Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021a ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is clear that many avenues are yet to be explored, especially those linked to molecular and physiological aspects of sperm‐female interactions. Since female tardigrades play a key behavioral role during sperm transfer/insemination (reviewed in Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ), and a substantial modification of sperm morphology takes place soon after insemination in macrobiotids (i.e., greatly reduced flagellum and thus motility; Rebecchi, 1997 ; Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ), it would not be surprising if there are also other physiological adaptations to long‐term storage in tardigrades, such as sperm nourishment (see Table 1 ; Orr & Brennan, 2015 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Tardigrades are a phylum of microinvertebrates closely related to arthropods (Jørgensen et al, 2018 ). Our understanding of tardigrade reproductive evolution is still in its infancy, but there is considerable descriptive biology knowledge (reviewed in Altiero et al, 2018 ; Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1999 ; Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ). Females are iteroparous and oviposition is associated with molting in species that lay smooth eggs into the shed exhuvia, while it is independent of ecdysis in taxa that lay ornamented eggs freely to the environment (Altiero et al, 2018 ; Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1999 ; Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our understanding of tardigrade reproductive evolution is still in its infancy, but there is considerable descriptive biology knowledge (reviewed in Altiero et al, 2018 ; Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1999 ; Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ). Females are iteroparous and oviposition is associated with molting in species that lay smooth eggs into the shed exhuvia, while it is independent of ecdysis in taxa that lay ornamented eggs freely to the environment (Altiero et al, 2018 ; Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1999 ; Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ). Most taxa are parthenogenetic or gonochoristic/dioecious, with very few recorded hermaphroditic species (Altiero et al, 2018 ; Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1999 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most taxa are parthenogenetic or gonochoristic/dioecious, with very few recorded hermaphroditic species (Altiero et al, 2018 ; Bertolani & Rebecchi, 1999 ). There are currently detailed descriptions of sexual interaction for four gonochoristic species, representing two eutardigrade families (reviewed in Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021c ). These studies all point to a key role of semiochemicals in male and/or ejaculate attraction, and of female behavior in ejaculate intake (Bartel & Hohberg, 2020 ; Bingemer et al, 2016 ; Sugiura et al, 2019 ; Sugiura & Matsumoto, 2021a , 2021b ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

First insights into female sperm storage duration in tardigrades

Vecchi

Chartrain

Puro

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Female sperm storage is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom and it has been shown to be linked to several evolutionary processes, from postcopulatory sexual selection to dispersal. Here we report, for the first time, long‐term sperm storage in females of the tardigrade Macrobiotus polonicus . Females, isolated after a short contact with a male, were able to use the stored sperm for up to 5 weeks (mean of 2 weeks), which translates to a considerable proportion of female post‐mating longevity under controlled laboratory conditions (60% on average). Our study provides the first insights into the duration of sperm storage, an underexplored feature of the reproductive biology of tardigrades. Additionally, we discuss important considerations for reproductive studies on these non‐model animals.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

First insights into female sperm storage duration in tardigrades

Vecchi

Chartrain

Puro

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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A first look into moss living tardigrades in boreal peatlands

Mäenpää,

Elo,

Calhim

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Tardigrades (Tardigrada) are a phylum of micrometazoans found in all biomes on Earth, but their ecology and habitat preferences remain vastly understudied. Boreal peatlands include a diversity of habitat types and high structural heterogeneity that represents an interesting system to study some of the poorly known habitat preferences of tardigrades. Here, we investigate for the first time tardigrade communities in peatland mosses and the latter's potential associations with key environmental variables. We collected 116 moss samples from 13 sites representing different peatland types and management histories. We found that tardigrades are common and diverse in boreal peatlands, as tardigrades were present in 72% of the collected samples and we identified 14 tardigrade genera. Tardigrade abundance seemed to increase alongside the increasing tree basal area and the density was higher in the microtopographic level further from the water table level, that is, hummocks (mean 117/moss gram) than in lawns/hollows (mean 84/moss gram). Furthermore, the highest tardigrade density was found in the moss taxa that are associated with forested peatland types (i.e., feather mosses) (321 mean/moss gram). Finally, we found interesting patterns regarding tardigrade functional diversity, as carnivorous tardigrades were found only in peatlands with tree basal area > 20 m2 and mostly in hummocks. Our study demonstrates that the habitat heterogeneity of peatlands (e.g., variation in moisture and vegetation cover) represents an interesting system to study tardigrade ecology and habitat preferences. However, since we found variation in tardigrade abundance and communities across peatland types and microhabitats within peatlands, our results highlight that such studies should be conducted with numerous replicate samples and a systematic study design that properly addresses the habitat heterogeneity between and within different peatland types.

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Population growth of two limno-terrestrial Antarctic microinvertebrates in different aqueous soil media

McCarthy,

Brown,

King

et al. 2024

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Terrestrial microinvertebrates provide important carbon and nutrient cycling roles in soil environments, particularly in Antarctica where larger macroinvertebrates are absent. The environmental preferences and ecology of rotifers and tardigrades in terrestrial environments, including in Antarctica, are not as well understood as their temperate aquatic counterparts. Developing laboratory cultures is critical to provide adequate numbers of individuals for controlled laboratory experimentation. In this study, we explore aspects of optimising laboratory culturing for two terrestrially sourced Antarctic microinvertebrates, a rotifer (Habrotrocha sp.) and a tardigrade (Acutuncus antarcticus). We tested a soil elutriate and a balanced salt solution (BSS) to determine their suitability as culturing media. Substantial population growth of rotifers and tardigrades was observed in both media, with mean rotifer population size increasing from 5 to 448 ± 95 (soil elutriate) and 274 ± 78 (BSS) individuals over 60 days and mean tardigrade population size increasing from 5 to 187 ± 65 (soil elutriate) and 138 ± 37 (BSS) over 160 days. We also tested for optimal dilution of soil elutriate in rotifer cultures, with 20–80% dilutions producing the largest population growth with the least variation in the 40% dilution after 36 days. Culturing methods developed in this study are recommended for use with Antarctica microinvertebrates and may be suitable for similar limno-terrestrial microinvertebrates from other regions.

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Sexual reproductive behaviours of tardigrades: a review

Cited by 11 publications

References 36 publications

First insights into female sperm storage duration in tardigrades

First insights into female sperm storage duration in tardigrades

A first look into moss living tardigrades in boreal peatlands

Population growth of two limno-terrestrial Antarctic microinvertebrates in different aqueous soil media

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