First records of water bears (Phylum Tardigrada) from Swaziland

Abstract

There are no published records of water bears (Phylum Tardigrada) from Swaziland. Two samples of foliose lichen collected in 2010 contained nine tardigrade specimens and one egg belonging to five genera and seven species: Echiniscus cf. quadrispinosus, Milnesium sp., Milnesium cf. bohleberi, Hypsibius cf. convergens, Ramazzottius sp., Macrobiotus cf. pallarii and Minibiotus harrylewisi. Milnesium sp. resembles Milnesium lagniappe, a species from southeastern USA, in its cuticle, and possibly in the number of peribuccal lamellae. Specimens from Lesotho and South Africa previously identified as Milnesium tardigradum are in fact Milnesium cf. bohleberi. The habitus of Ramazzottius sp. is consistent with R. theroni, a southern African species, but due to the condition of the specimen the presence of cuticular sculpture cannot be definitively ruled out. Macrobiotus cf. pallarii differs from M. pallarii sensu stricto in some structural details of the egg processes. This is the first record of Minibiotus harrylewisi outside of its type location in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.