Macrobiotus persimilis Binda & Pilato, 1972

Fontoura, Paulo, Pilato, Giovanni & Lisi, Oscar, 2008, New records of eutardigrades (Tardigrada) from Faial and Pico Islands, the Azores, with the description of two new species, Zootaxa 1778, pp. 37-47 : 40-41

Macrobiotus persimilis Binda & Pilato, 1972

Material examined: 19 specimens, and 3 eggs were collected on Terras do Pico (Pico Island) and mounted in Hoyer’s medium.

Body length 180–398 µm. Egg diameter, including processes, between 79 and 92 µm.

Distribution: Very common species widely distributed in the whole world ( McInnes, 1994). It was recorded from Europe, North America, North Africa and Australia. This is the first record of this species on the Azores Islands.

Macrobiotus cf. harmsworthi Murray, 1907 b

Material examined: 6 specimens were collected on Faial Island: 5 specimens on Miradouro da Praia Norte and one specimen on Túnel da Caldeira. 4 specimens were mounted in Hoyer’s medium and 2 in polyvinyl lactophenol.

Body length of adults 255–345 µm, with characteristics similar to those of Macrobiotus harmsworthi . In one measured specimen, pt of stylet supports was 78.7. Pilato et al. (2000) measured 8 specimens of M. harmsworthi (one paratype included) and stated that the values of the pt index were 75.1–77.9, in other species of the harmsworthi group these value are clearly higher.

In our material the eggs were not found and definitive identification of the specimens is not possible.

This is the first record of the harmsworthi group on Azores Islands.