Abstract
A moss sample from the local biodiversity hotspot in lowland rainforest in the vicinity of Amber Mountain, Madagascar, yielded the discovery of twoEchiniscusC.A.S. Schultze, 1840 species, of which one is new to science.Echiniscussuccineussp. nov.is related to other members of thespinulosusgroup, but differs from them by the highly complicated structure of the dorsal plates, with intricately thickened parts of the armour forming ornamented pattern. The validity of the intraporal dark rings as a taxonomic trait is discussed in the context of the recovered intraspecific variability for the new taxon. Besides, rareEchiniscusafricanusMurray, 1907 is reported for the first time from the island.
Highlights
Madagascan fauna is widely recognised among biologists for its unprecedented level of endemism and notable species diversity (Myers et al 2000; Goodman and Benstead 2003, 2005; Holt et al 2013)
Twenty-two specimens of the new species and a single juvenile of E. africanus were extracted from one moss sample, collected from a tree at the edge of lowland rainforest in the vicinity of Amber Mountain in December 2018
The dorsal plate sculpture of the mixed type, with large pores surrounded by polygonal edges on the scapular and caudal plates, and endocuticular pillars visible as densely arranged dark dots on the remaining plates, sometimes covered by thick epicuticular ornamentation (Fig. 1)
Summary
Madagascan fauna is widely recognised among biologists for its unprecedented level of endemism and notable species diversity (Myers et al 2000; Goodman and Benstead 2003, 2005; Holt et al 2013). Such enormous biodiversity, like in the majority of the tropical regions of the globe, is in great danger due to massive extirpation of rainforests (Brown and Gurevitch 2004). Echiniscus africanus Murray, 1907, previously reported from South Africa, Angola, Tanzania, and Lesotho (da Cunha and do Nascimento Ribeiro 1964, Binda and Pilato 1995, Middleton 2003, Gąsiorek and Kristensen 2018), is recorded and illustrated
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