Abstract
The tardigrade fauna of Condor Seamount, west of the Azores, is relatively rich, and species from at least seven genera are represented. A new species of the rare marine genus Neostygarctus (Arthrotardigrada) was found at 206 m depth at the summit of the seamount. This is the first record of the genus from the Atlantic Ocean, and also the deepest record of the genus. The new species Neostygarctus oceanopolis sp. nov. is easily distinguished from the Mediterranean type species N. acanthophorus by the number of middorsal spines. N. acanthophorus has five dorsal spines, whereas the adult of N. oceanopolis sp. nov. has seven. The cave tardigrade from Japan, Neostygarctus lovedeluxe also has dorsal spines on all five segments, but only the cephalic and the caudal segments have a middorsal spine, while the three other trunk segments have two spines on each of the dorsal segmental body plates. For the first time, ventral plates are recorded for a species of Neostygarctus. A membranous coating of the all spines of the cephalic segment, the lateral processes of the first three trunk segments, and the spines of the fourth leg pair are unique for Neostygarctus.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge scientific illustrator Mrs. Stine B. Elle, who made the final drawings, and the Section of Biosystematics, Natural History Museum of Denmark for financial support of Stine B. Elle. This work was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal (FCT Project BIOMOUNT, PTDC/MAR/105486/2008, COMPETE funds). The authors are indebted to the CONDOR project (Observatory for long term study and monitoring of Azorean ecosystem, EEA Grants PT0040/2008, Iceland, Liechtenstein), the IMAR-DOP/UAc Research and Development Unit #531, and LARSyS Associated Laboratory funded by FCT-Pest/OE/EEI/LA0009/2010&2013 – ProjectoEstratégioLA9–2010–2014, and by the Azores Directorate for Science, Technology and Communications (DRCTC). We are in particular grateful to Prof. Ricardo Serrão Santos. DZ was supported by the “Laboratoire d’Excellence” LabexMER (ANR-10-LABX-19), co-funded by a grant from the French government under the program “Investissements d’Avenir”, and by a grant from the Regional Council of Brittany (SAD programme).
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Kristensen, R.M., Sørensen, M.V., Hansen, J.G. et al. A new species of Neostygarctus (Arthrotardigrada) from the Condor Seamount in the Azores, Northeast Atlantic. Mar Biodiv 45, 453–467 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-015-0323-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-015-0323-y