Minibiotus furcatus (Ehrenberg 1859)

Guil, Noemí, 2008, New records and within-species variability of Iberian tardigrades (Tardigrada), with comments on the species from the Echiniscus blumi-canadensis series, Zootaxa 1757, pp. 1-30 : 25

Minibiotus furcatus (Ehrenberg 1859)

We have identified 167 specimens and three eggs (in three out of 15 sampling points). Cuticle had round, elliptical, triangular and/or quadrangular-shaped big pores, which are distributed in transversal bands all over the body, including the external side of the legs. Three round-shaped macroplacoids and a microplacoid were within the pharyngeal bulb. Double-claws were of the hufelandi type. Large common tract, and small lunules, smooth in the first three pairs of legs and dentated in the fourth pairs of legs. Freely-laid eggs, long coneshaped processes and dots over egg surface, between the processes. I observed ocular spots in 87% of animals studied, 10% lacked these structures, and in 3% of specimens it was not possible to determine their presence or absence. Mean body size was 555 μm (SD 111), range 275 to 902 μm. The species has been cited for Europe, Asia, America, Africa and Antarctica. In the Iberian Peninsula, it has been recorded for Portugal ( Da Cunha 1941, 1944a; Fontoura 1981; Maucci & Durante Pasa 1984, 1985), and for Spain ( Maucci & Durante Pasa 1984), but it is the first record for Madrid ( Table 2 ). Minibiotus furcatus appeared at 15 sampling points (Table 3), distributed in all habitats examined.