One new species and records of Ichthydium Ehrenberg, 1830 (Gastrotricha: Chaetonotida) from Sweden with a key to the genus

Abstract

The freshwater gastrotrich fauna of Sweden is poorly known. Only seven species of freshwater gastrotrichs have been reported so far. This paper is the first in a series of contributions about the Swedish freshwater gastrotrich fauna. Here we describe one new species, Ichthydium skandicum n. sp., from Jämtland, northern Sweden. The new species falls within the boundary of the subgenus Forficulichthys and is morphologically closest to Ichthydium tanytrichum from which it can be differentiated based on the presence of four pairs of dorsal, keeled scales in the posterior trunk region. Moreover, we provide morphometric data for three additional Ichthydium species: I. diacanthum, I. squamigerum and I. tanytrichum, Italian species all of which are reported for the first time outside Italy. Considering the accompanying fauna, a total of thirteen freshwater Gastrotricha are reported for the first time from Sweden. Finally we present a dichotomous key for Ichthydium along with distributional data of the species considered.