Bai, L.; Wang, X.; Gao, X.; LI, Y.; Fontoura, P. (2022). First record of a deep-sea tardigrade from the South China Sea, Halechiniscus janus sp. nov. (Arthrotardigrada: Halechiniscidae). Zootaxa. 5159(3): 425-439.
First record of a deep-sea tardigrade from the South China Sea, Halechiniscus janus sp. nov. (Arthrotardigrada: Halechiniscidae)
Zootaxa
5159(3): 425-439
Publication
Available for editors
The knowledge of marine tardigrades in the South China Sea (Western Pacific Ocean) is very scarce, with only four
species from shallow waters recorded until now. The first deep-sea (1530–1624 m bsl) tardigrade species from this sea,
Halechiniscus janus sp. nov. (Arthrotardigrada: Halechiniscidae), is described here. Specimens of the new species have
four wrinkled digits without peduncles on each leg, terminated by simple crescent-shaped claws, and primary clavae
clearly shorter than cirri A, both inserted on a common cirrophore, as typical for the genus Halechiniscus Richters, 1908.
The new species differs from all other Halechiniscus species by its cylindrical body and conical head; by the presence
of semispherical secondary clavae, and by sensory organs on legs IV consisting of a short cirrophore followed by a short
papilla terminated in a peculiar short bipartite tip. The discovery of this new bathyal species, with its peculiar morphological
traits, brings new insights not only to the biogeography and ecology of tardigrades, but also to the understanding of the
only partially resolved systematics of the diversified family Halechiniscidae.