<i>Macrobiotus rebecchii</i> sp. nov.: A New Limno-Terrestrial and Hermaphroditic Tardigrade from Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

A new tardigrade species of the genus Macrobiotus C.A.S. Schultze, 1834 from Kyrgyzstan, is described and illustrated in this paper. Macrobiotus rebecchii sp. nov. is a hermaphroditic and limnoterrestrial species found in a moss growing on a rock in Toluk village. Specimens of the new species were examined for its morphological details using contrast phase light microscope (PCM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Genetic data in the form of DNA sequences of commonly used molecular markers were also obtained (18S rRNA, COI). Phenotypically the new species is most similar to Macrobiotus joannae Pilato & Binda, 1983, Macrobiotus punctillus Pilato, Binda & Azzaro, 1990, and Macrobiotus hannae Nowak & Stec, 2018, but can be easily differentiated from all of them by its body granulation pattern.

Keywords

• body granulation
• hermaphrodite
• integrative taxonomy
• Kyrgyzstan
• new species
• tardigrades