Isohypsibius prosostomus Thulin, 1928

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, 2017, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part IV: Africa, Zootaxa 4284 (1), pp. 1-74 : 38-39

108. Isohypsibius prosostomus Thulin, 1928 [T]

Hypsibius (I.) prosostomus ( Thulin, 1928) ( Haspeslagh 1982) I. prosostomus ( Ramløv & Kristensen 1985)

Isohypsibius prosostomus ( Thulin, 1928) ( Séméria 1986) Isohypsibius prosostomus Thulin 1928 (Binda et al. 2001) Terra typica : Sweden (Europe)

Democratic Republic of Congo:

• 00°04′S, 29°18′E; 1,950 m asl: North Kivu Province, outskirts of Lukanga, lichen. Binda et al. (2001)

Kenya:

• 00°09′S, 37°19′E; 4,439 m asl: Meru County, Mount Kenya National Park, Mount Kenya, Upper Kami Tarn, shore, sediments. Haspeslagh (1982)

• 00°09′S, 37°19′E; 4,439 m asl: Meru County, Mount Kenya National Park, Mount Kenya, Lower Kami Tarn, shore, sediments. Haspeslagh (1982)

• 00°10′S, 37°18′E; 4,270 m asl: Nyeri County, Mount Kenya National Park, Mount Kenya, Teleki Tarn, small effluent and shallow pond, silt, sediments and sandy gravel. Haspeslagh (1982)

Morocco:

• 33°31′N, 05°07′W; 1,650 m asl: Meknès-Tafilalet Region, Ras al Ma [Res el Ma], mosses trees ( Cedrus ) and rocks. Séméria (1986)

• 32°25′N, 05°13′W; 1,750 m asl: Meknès-Tafilalet Region, S of Azrou , cedar forest, moss on basalt boulders in the forest glade. Ramløv & Kristensen (1985)

• 31°06′N, 07°55′W; 2,300–2,500 m asl: Tadla-Azilal Region, path to the Jebel Toubkal , scattered tussock vegetation, moss on basalt and mica slate. Ramløv & Kristensen (1985)

Record numbers. Democratic Republic of Congo: 1, Kenya: 3, Morocco: 3; total 7.

Remarks. This species is largely Palaearctic with limited reports from other regions ( McInnes 1994), indicative of a probable species complex. The original description for I. prosostomus requires a re-evaluation of the type material to clarify the confused descriptions. For example, Haspeslagh (1982) corroborates Cuenot (1932) noting a “characteristic oblique cuticular bar” at the base of claws I–III, which was absent in the original description ( Thulin 1911, 1928).