Fifty-one species make up the known tardigrade fauna of the West Gulf Coastal Plain (western Louisiana, eastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and southern Arkansas). Tardigrade diversity appears low compared to well-sampled areas of North America and Europe. Lichens and mosses collected in southwestern Louisiana during the Spring of 2010 contained ten species of tardigrades. Macrobiotus anemone sp. n. belongs to the hufelandi group. It differs from other species in the group in having egg processes whose terminal disks have 7–10 long, tentacular arms. Murrayon hyperoncus sp. n. differs from other species in the genus in the much larger dimensions of its buccal tube, placoids, and lunules. Echiniscus arctomys, Hypsibius convergens, Mesocrista spitzbergensis, Paramacrobiotus richtersi, and Murrayon pullari are new records for Louisiana.
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Southeastern Naturalist
Vol. 13 • No. sp5
April 2014
Vol. 13 • No. sp5
April 2014