A new water bear, Minibiotus julianae, from the Caribbean Island of Dominica (Tardigrada: Eutardigrada: Parachela: Macrobiotidae)

Abstract

A new species of tardigrade, Minibiotus acadianus, is described from a moss sample collected in June 2009 from a rainforest palm tree on the island of Dominica, West Indies. The new species has a buccal tube with a single anterior curvature, two macroplacoids, and a microplacoid. The cuticle is smooth with small, evenly-distributed circular or elliptical pores. Eggs have a reticulated shell surface and short inverted goblet egg process; a dentate margin on the distal dish of the processes bears 10–12 short teeth. The new species is most similar to Minibiotus acadianus Meyer & Domingue, 2011; both have wider buccal tubes than other species in the genus. The new species is easily distinguished from M. acadianus in lacking cuticular gibbosities and in some characters of the egg.