Continued Exploration of Tanzanian Rainforests Reveals a New Echiniscid Species (Heterotardigrada)

摘要

The Afrotropical tardigrade fauna is insufficiently studied, and consequently itsdiversity in this region is severely underestimated. Ongoing sampling in the UdzungwaMountains, Morogoro Region of Tanzania has revealed a new representative of the genusEchiniscus C.A.S. Schultze, 1840 (Echiniscidae). Echiniscustantulus sp. nov. belongs to the spinulosus group, but itstands out from other members of this speciose Echiniscus clade by havinga heteromorphic sculpture of the dorsal plates and an uncommonly stable body appendageconfigurationA-C-Cd-Dd-E.The new species is characteristic by being equipped with long dorsal spines and very shortlateral spicules, which so far have been found only in one other species of the group,Echiniscus spinulosus (Doyère, 1840). An updated checklist ofTanzanian Echiniscidae is provided, incorporating recent advances in their classification.