Milnesium minutum and Milnesium sandrae, two new species of Milnesiidae (Tardigrada, Eutardigrada, Apochela).
Two new species of Milnesium are described, Milnesium minutum sp. n. from Sicily and Milnesium sandrae sp. n. from the Hawaiian Archipelago. The body size of Milnesium minutum is the smallest of the known species of the genus. The stylet supports are inserted on the buccal tube at 63-66% of its length and the claws have a [3-3]-[3-3] configuration. Milnesium sandrae has stylet supports inserted on the buccal tube at 58-60.5% of its length, a [3-3]-[3-3] claw configuration, and the percent ratio between the secondary claw and primary claw length on legs I-III (78.6%-85.5%) clearly higher than on legs IV (70.5%-71.4%). With the description of these two new species, the number of species in the genus is increased to 31.
Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via Androne 81, 95124, Catania, Italy.
Giovanni
G
Pilato
Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via Androne 81, 95124, Catania, Italy.
Oscar
O
Lisi
Hawaiian Archipelago; Milnesiidae; Sicily; Tardigrada; new species