Echiniscidae in the Mascarenes: the wonders of Mauritius

Abstract

Many regions of the world remain unexplored in terms of the tardigrade diversity, and the islands of the Indian Ocean are no exception. In this work, we report four species of the family Echiniscidae representing three genera from Mauritius, the second largest island in the Mascarene Archipelago. Two species belong in the genus Echiniscus: Echiniscus perarmatus Murray, 1907, a pantropical species, and one new species: Echiniscus insularis sp. nov., one of the smallest members of the spinulosus group and the entire genus, being particularly interesting due to the presence of males and supernumerary teeth-like spicules along the margins of the dorsal plates. The new species most closely resembles Echiniscus tropicalis Binda & Pilato, 1995, for which we present extensive multipopulation data and greatly extend its distribution eastwards towards islands of Southeast Asia. Pseudechiniscus (Meridioniscus) mascarenensis sp. nov. is a typical member of the subgenus with elongated (dactyloid) cephalic papillae and the pseudosegmental plate IV’ with reduced posterior projections in males. Finally, a Bryodelphax specimen is also recorded. The assemblage of both presumably endemic and widely distributed tardigrade species in Mauritius fits the recent emerging biogeographic patterns for this group of micrometazoans.