Echiniscoides sigismundi explained

Echiniscoides sigismundi is a species of marine tardigrade. It lives in seaweeds or plates of barnacles, or more generally in algal strongholds in inter-tidal areas.^{[1] [2]}

Taxonomy

Echiniscoides sigismundi is the type species of Echiniscoides.^[3] Described in 1865 as Echiniscus sigismundii, it was placed in a separate genus by Ludwig Hermann Plate in 1888.

Distribution

By 1936, it was reported in most seas of Northern Europe, and in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.^[4]

The Light and Smith Manual^[5] describes its distribution as cosmopolitan, in the upper inter-tidal.

Osmobiosis

Echiniscoides sigismundi becomes turgid in freshwater, but can survive up to three days, resuming normal activity as osmotic differential returns to normal.^[6]

Infraspecies

• Echiniscoides sigismundi galliensis Kristensen and Hallas, 1980
• Echiniscoides sigismundi groenlandicus Kristensen and Hallas, 1980
• Echiniscoides sigismundi hispaniensis Kristensen and Hallas, 1980
• Echiniscoides sigismundi mediterranicus Kristensen and Hallas, 1980
• Echiniscoides sigismundi polynesiensis Renaud-Mornant, 1976
• Echiniscoides sigismundi porphyrae Grimaldi de Zio, Gallo D'Addabbo and Pietanza, 2000
• Echiniscoides sigismundi sigismundi (M. Schultze, 1865)
• Echiniscoides sigismundi verrucariae Grimaldi de Zio, Gallo D'Addabbo and Pietanza, 2000

See also

• Tardigrada
• Heterotardigrada

Bibliography

• R.O. Schuster, and A. A. Grigarick, 1965. Tardigrada from Western North America With Emphasis on the Fauna of California. University of California Publications in Zoology, vol. 76: 1-67.
• Roberto Guidetti and Roberto Bertolani, 2005. Tardigrade taxonomy: an updated check list of the taxa and a list of characters for their identification. Zootaxa, issue 845: 1-46. Abstract
• Peter Degma, Roberto Bertolani|, Roberto Guidetti, 2010. Actual checklist of Tardigrada species (Ver. 12: 16-04-2010). http://www.tardigrada.modena.unimo.it/miscellanea/Actual%20checklist%20of%20Tardigrada.pdf
• D. J. Crisp and J. Hobart. A note on the habitat of the marine tardigrade Echiniscoides sigismundi (Shultze) (Payment needed for full article) Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser 12, 7: 554-560
• Book: British Tardigrades, Tardigrada: Keys and Notes for the Identification of the Species. 9 . New series, Synopses of the British fauna. Clive I. Morgan, Philip Ernest King. Linnean Society of London. 1976. 0082-1101 . 978-0-12-506950-2.

Notes and References

1. Web site: UK species inventory: Echiniscoides sigismundi (Schultze, 1865). 15 June 2014.
2. Book: Margulis. Lynn. Lynn Margulis. Kingdoms and Domains: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth. 2009. Academic Press. 978-0-08-092014-6. 324.
3. Observations on marine Heterotardigrada, including a new genus from the western Atlantic Ocean. Pollock, L.W.. Cahiers de Biologie Marine. 1975. 16. 121–32.
4. Book: Marcus. E.. Arthropoda: Tardigrada. 1936. Walter de Gruyter. 978-3-11-143462-9. 34. de.
5. Book: The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon. 296. Sol Felty Light. James T. Carlton (Editor). University of California Press. 2007. 978-0-520-23939-5.
6. Book: Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates. Aquatic ecology series . James H. Thorp . Alan P. Covich . Academic Press. 2010. 978-0-12-374855-3. 467.