TY - JOUR

T1 - An integrative description of Minibiotus ioculator sp. nov. from the Republic of South Africa with notes on Minibiotus pentannulatus Londoño et al., 2017 (Tardigrada: Macrobiotidae)

AU - Stec, Daniel

AU - Kristensen, Reinhardt Møbjerg

AU - Michalczyk, Łukasz

N1 - Funding Information: We are especially grateful to our colleagues Bartłomiej Surmacz, Witold Morek (both of Jagiellonian University, Poland) and Thomas Pape (Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen) for collecting the samples which allowed us to conduct this study and to Piotr Gąsiorek who kindly extracted for us the buccal apparatuses for SEM imaging. The lichen sample containing M. ioculator sp. nov. was collected from the Tradouw Pass located in Western Cape, Republic of South Africa under the permit no. CN35-28-5316 issued by CapeNature (Western Cape Province) to Witold Morek. The lichen sample containing M. pentannulatus was collected from the Udzungwa Mts. National Park, Tanzania under COSTECH permit No. 2015-170-ER-2012-147 to Thomas Pape and the associated TANAPA and TAWIRI permits. We also thank Rosana Londoño and Anisbeth Daza (Universidad del Magdalena, Colombia) for sending us the microphotographs of type specimens of M. pentannulatus. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to improve the manuscript. The study was supported by the Preludium programme of the Polish National Science Centre (grant no. 2018/31/N/NZ8/03096 to DS supervised by ŁM) and by the grant from the European Commission’s programme “Transnational Access to Major Research Infrastructures” to SYNTHESYS (grant no. DK-TAF-2693 to DS). Some of the analyses were carried out with the equipment purchased from the Sonata Bis programme of the Polish National Science Centre (grant no. 2016/22/E/NZ8/00417 to ŁM). Funding Information: We are especially grateful to our colleagues Bart?omiej Surmacz, Witold Morek (both of Jagiellonian University, Poland) and Thomas Pape (Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen) for collecting the samples which allowed us to conduct this study and to Piotr G?siorek who kindly extracted for us the buccal apparatuses for SEM imaging. The lichen sample containing M. ioculator sp. nov. was collected from the Tradouw Pass located in Western Cape, Republic of South Africa under the permit no. CN35-28-5316 issued by CapeNature (Western Cape Province) to Witold Morek. The lichen sample containing M. pentannulatus was collected from the Udzungwa Mts. National Park, Tanzania under COSTECH permit No. 2015-170-ER-2012-147 to Thomas Pape and the associated TANAPA and TAWIRI permits. We also thank Rosana Londo?o and Anisbeth Daza (Universidad del Magdalena, Colombia) for sending us the microphotographs of type specimens of M. pentannulatus. We are also grateful to two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped to improve the manuscript. The study was supported by the Preludium programme of the Polish National Science Centre (grant no. 2018/31/N/NZ8/03096 to DS supervised by ?M) and by the grant from the European Commission's programme ?Transnational Access to Major Research Infrastructures? to SYNTHESYS (grant no. DK-TAF-2693 to DS). Some of the analyses were carried out with the equipment purchased from the Sonata Bis programme of the Polish National Science Centre (grant no. 2016/22/E/NZ8/00417 to ?M). Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s)

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - The genus Minibiotus is morphologically diverse, which may suggest its polyphyletic character. However, scarce genetic data and often also the lack of detailed morphological data currently do not allow for the verification of the relationships within this genus. Here, for the very first time, we provide an integrative description of a new Minibiotus species. Minibiotus ioculator sp. nov. from the Republic of South Africa differs from other congeners mainly by egg ornamentation with processes on the egg shell that resemble the hat of a royal jester. We also provide new taxonomic data on Minibiotus pentannulatus based on a population newly found in Tanzania, which constitutes the first African record of this species originally described from South America. Our study involved both classical taxonomic methods, which include morphological and morphometric analyses conducted with the use of light and scanning electron microscopy, and genetic data in the form of DNA sequences of four markers (three nuclear: 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, ITS-2, and one mitochondrial: COI). The results of this study allow a discussion of species composition within Minibiotus and question the validity of the current diagnosis of the genus.

AB - The genus Minibiotus is morphologically diverse, which may suggest its polyphyletic character. However, scarce genetic data and often also the lack of detailed morphological data currently do not allow for the verification of the relationships within this genus. Here, for the very first time, we provide an integrative description of a new Minibiotus species. Minibiotus ioculator sp. nov. from the Republic of South Africa differs from other congeners mainly by egg ornamentation with processes on the egg shell that resemble the hat of a royal jester. We also provide new taxonomic data on Minibiotus pentannulatus based on a population newly found in Tanzania, which constitutes the first African record of this species originally described from South America. Our study involved both classical taxonomic methods, which include morphological and morphometric analyses conducted with the use of light and scanning electron microscopy, and genetic data in the form of DNA sequences of four markers (three nuclear: 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, ITS-2, and one mitochondrial: COI). The results of this study allow a discussion of species composition within Minibiotus and question the validity of the current diagnosis of the genus.

KW - Africa

KW - Biodiversity

KW - DNA barcodes

KW - New species

KW - Peribuccal structures

KW - Taxonomy

U2 - 10.1016/j.jcz.2020.03.007

DO - 10.1016/j.jcz.2020.03.007

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85088503898

VL - 286

SP - 117

EP - 134

JO - Zoologischer Anzeiger

JF - Zoologischer Anzeiger

SN - 0044-5231

ER -