Tenuibiotus tenuiformis ( Tumanov, 2007 )

Beasley, Clark W. & Miller, William R., 2012, Additional Tardigrada from Hubei Province, China, with the description of Doryphoribius barbarae sp. nov. (Eutardigrada: Parachela: Hypsibiidae), Zootaxa 3170, pp. 55-63 : 62

Tenuibiotus tenuiformis ( Tumanov, 2007)

Material examined. One moss sample from Site 1 yielded 29 adults and 5 eggs.

Remarks. There have been no reports of this species since the description by Tumanov (2007) from Kirghizia; therefore this is only the second report of the species, and a new record for China.

The Chinese specimens were all smaller than those found in Kirghizia, but the pt values of the various structures used in classification coincide or overlap, with only a few exceptions. One evident difference in measurement was the claw length and the height of the egg processes. In both these characters, Tumanov (2007) found greater values.

Tumanov’s (2007) description of buccal armature, granulation on legs, and cuticular thickenings near claw bases fit the specimens from the current study; the cuticular thickenings on the legs are faint, not as dark as in most species that have them. He also mentioned slanting cuticular bars at the pharynx end of the buccal tube; these were present in the Hubei specimens, but were very short (3.3–3.8 µm in length).