TAXONOMIC ACCOUNT

OF THE MICROHYPSIBIIDAE SENSU STRICTO

Superfamily HYPSIBIOIDEA Pilato, 1969 (emended by Bertolani et al. 2014a)

Family MICROHYPSIBIIDAE Pilato, 1998

EMENDED DIAGNOSIS. — Very small eutardigrades (typically below 150 μm in length) without elliptical organs on the head. Cuticle smooth. Claws minute and asymmetrical with respect to the sequence of primary and secondary branches (2-1-2-1), with thin bases continuous with the primary branches. External and internal, and anterior and posterior claws different in shape but similar in size. Pseudolunulae absent. Accessory points symmetrical (Fig. 11G). Peribuccal papulae not visible under PCM. AISM asymmetrical with respect to the frontal plane, with the dorsal apophysis subdivided in two portions of different shapes (Fig. 9A). Stylet furcae of the Hypsibius - type. Pharyngeal apophyses similar in size to macroplacoids. Smooth eggs laid in exuviae.

COMPOSITION. — A monotypic family, comprising the genus Microhypsibius .