Macrobiotus echinogenitus Richters, 1904f

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, 2017, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part IV: Africa, Zootaxa 4284 (1), pp. 1-74 : 43

124. Macrobiotus echinogenitus Richters, 1904f sensu lato [T]

Macrobiotus echinogenitus ( Teunissen 1938)

Macrobiotus echinogenitus Richters, 1904 ( Pilato & Pennisi 1976, Binda & Pilato 1987, Binda 1988) Macrobiotus cf. echinogenitus Richters, 1904 ( Meyer & Hinton 2009)

Terra typica : Svalbard (Spitsbergen)

Algeria:

• 36°49′N, 05°47′E; 0 m asl: Jijel Province, Jijel, Les Aftis beach (Ziama Monsouria). Binda & Pilato (1987), Binda (1988)

• Democratic Republic of Congo:

• 01°25′S, 29°27′E: Undefined locality, North Kivu Province, Albert National Park [ Virunga National Park ], soil. Teunissen (1938)

Israel and Palestinian National Authority:

• 31°46′N, 35°16′E; 650 m asl: Judean Mountains, al-Eizariya, Bethany, Tomb of Lazarus, semi-arid climate, moss (Orthotrichium sp.) on rock. Rahm (1936)

Libya:

• 32°29′N, 20°50′E; 350 m asl: Marj District, Barce [Marj], moss. Pilato & Pennisi (1976)

• Morocco:

• 32°56′N, 05°40′W; 1,700 m asl [850 m asl]: Meknès-Tafilalet Region, Khenifra [Khénifra], moss. Binda (1988)

Republic of South Africa:

• 29°44′S, 22°44′E: Undefined locality, Cape Colony [Cape Province]. Murray (1907a)

• 29°48′S, 29°30′E; 1,550 m asl: KwaZulu-Natal Province, Underberg , moss on soil. Meyer & Hinton (2009)

Record numbers. Algeria: 1, Democratic Republic of Congo: 1, Israel and Palestinian National Authority 1, Libya: 1, Morocco: 1, Republic of South Africa: 2; total: 7.

Remarks. The short note describing Macrobiotus echinogenitus ( Richters 1904f) was followed by a more detailed description ( Richters 1904b) but raised issues, discussed in Marcus (1936), leading to this species being synonymised with Macrobiotus harmsworthi and M. areolatus . The out-dated original descriptions have produced a cosmopolitan ( McInnes 1994) species group. As this nominal species requires a formal taxonomic re-description, all African record need re-examination using integrated taxonomy.