An integrative description of Mesobiotus ethiopicus sp. nov. (Tardigrada: Eutardigrada: Parachela: Macrobiotidae: harmsworthi group) from the northern Afrotropic region

Abstract

A new species of theMesobiotus harmsworthigroup is described from Ethiopia. An integrative taxonomy approach wasapplied by combining morphological and morphometric analyses imaging under phase contrast and scanning electron microscopywith molecular analysis (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA and COI markers) to cross-verify the status of the population as a new species.The specimens ofMesobiotus ethiopicussp. nov. are most similar to two taxa of theharmsworthicomplex:M. harmsworthi obscurus (Dastych, 1985) andM. peterseni(Maucci, 1991). Nevertheless, the new species can be easily distinguished from the first of thesetaxa by the absence of additional teeth in the oral cavity and by a different accessory point morphology on the claws, and it can bedistinguished from the second species mostly by a completely different egg process anatomy.Mesobiotus ethiopicussp. nov. is only thesecond tardigrade species formally described as new for science from Ethiopia so far.