Echiniscus azoricus
Echiniscus azoricus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Tardigrada |
Class: | Heterotardigrada |
Family: | Echiniscidae |
Genus: | Echiniscus |
Species: | E. azoricus |
Binomial name | |
Echiniscus azoricus Fontoura, Pilato & Lisi, 2008 | |
Echinscus azoricus (English name: Azorean or Pico water bear) is a species of tardigrades in the family Echiniscidae. The species is endemic to the Azores Islands and is founded mainly on Pico Island.[1] The species were named by Paulo Fontoura, Giovanni Pilato and Oscar Lisi in 2008[1] and was the second of the Echiniscus species they named if that was founded in Macaronesia, the next was in three years being Echiniscus clavispinosus native to Cape Verde. It was one of three tardigrades that were described in the Azores that year, the other being Doryphoribius picoensis and Macrobiotus almadai.
As tardigrades are not insects and being lower than insects, it was the second tardigrade to be known in the Azores and one of the first in Macaronesia.
References
Further reading
- Fontoura, Pilato & Lisi 2008: Echiniscidae (Tardigrada, Heterotardigrada) from Faial and Pico Islands, the Azores, with the description of two new species. Zootaxa
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