Some Echiniscidae (Tardigrada: Heterotardigrada) from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

Eight species of tardigrades in the family Echiniscidae were observed: Echiniscus horningi, Echiniscus mauccii, Echiniscus quadrispinosus, Echiniscus wendti, Hypechiniscus gladiator, Pseudechiniscus goedeni, Pseudechiniscus suillus, and Testechiniscus laterculus. Of these, six are new to British Columbia and three are new to Canada. Two species that were previously collected in 1908 and 1910 in British Columbia have been recollected. All eight species are described and illustrated.

Assessment of traditional and geometric morphometrics for discriminating cryptic species of thePseudechiniscus suilluscomplex (Tardigrada, Echiniscidae)

“…Similar conclusions can be drawn concerning the Canadian specimens also attributed to P. suillus by Kathman and Dastych (1990) that, as indicated by these authors, could be confused with P. facettalis . These Canadian specimens probably belong to the same species of the specimens from S. Miguel (Azores) that we studied.…”

“…Several authors refer to this character to describe or identify different species of the P. suillus complex (e.g. Ramazzotti and Maucci 1983; Maucci 1986; Dastych 1988; Kathman and Dastych 1990; McInnes 1995; Pilato and Lisi 2006). Unfortunately, the usefulness of this character when considered alone is limited.…”

“…As already suggested by several authors (e.g. Maucci 1973–1974, 1986; Dastych 1984; Kathman and Dastych 1990; Pilato and Lisi 2006), a complete revision of the genus is strongly needed.…”

An integrated study of the biodiversity within the Pseudechiniscus suillus–facettalis group (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)

“…T h e h i g h n u m b e r o f d e s c r i b e d s p e c i e s notwithstanding, species identification is still difficult in Pseudechiniscus (Kathman & Dastych, 1990;Fontoura & Morais, 2011). Some of the species are difficult to distinguish from one another, which is due to different issues, such as older, imprecise or incomplete diagnoses (for actual standards) with omissions of important characters, probably linked to the use of poor equipment and, in some cases, the type material being absent or lost (Fontoura & Morais, 2011).…”

Limno-terrestrial Tardigrada of the Nearctic Realm

“…However, some investigators have surveyed the tardigrade fauna of larger regions. These include southern Greenland (Maucci 1996), New Brunswick (Argue 1971(Argue , 1972(Argue , 1974, Newfoundland (Bateman & Collins 2001), Labrador (Boeckner et al 2006), Vancouver Island (Kathman 1990a;Kathman & Dastych 1990), the Appalachians (Riggin 1962(Riggin , 1964Bartels & Nelson 2006), Florida (Meyer 2006a), Oklahoma (Beasley 1978), Missouri (Hidalgo & Coombs 1985), Illinois (Puglia 1964), New Mexico (Beasley 1988), the American Pacific coast states (Schuster & Grigarick 1965), and Sonora (Schuster 1971).…”