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Publication
Intertidal and shallow subtidal marine tardigrades from the British Virgin Islands with a description of a new Batillipes (Heterotardigrada: Batillipedidae)
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This is the frst survey of marine tardigrades from the British Virgin Islands, though two species were previously reported
from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. In June 2016, we collected subtidal and intertidal sand samples from various locations throughout the British Virgin Islands. We found 602 tardigrades in 18 of 21 samples, and these included 12 taxa, one
of which, Batillipes wyedeleinorum sp. nov., is new to science and described here. We compared abundance and species
diversity in intertidal and subtidal samples and found signifcantly greater abundance in intertidal habitats but no signifcant
diference in the number of observed species between the two habitats. We calculated Chao 1 species richness, which indicated higher estimated richness in intertidal habitats and 15 ± 3.7 species (x̅ ± SD) in both habitats combined. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling revealed diferences in species composition between the two habitats with some species showing clear preferences for one or the other.
Description
Keywords
Batillipes wyedeleinorum Caribbean Sea Community ecology Meiofauna Tardigrada Water bears
Citation
Bartels, P. J., Fontoura, P., Nelson, D. R., & Kaczmarek, Ł. (2024). Intertidal and shallow subtidal marine tardigrades from the British Virgin Islands with a description of a new Batillipes (Heterotardigrada: Batillipedidae). Marine Biodiversity, 54(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-024-01450-8
Publisher
Marine Biodiversity, 54(60)