Styraconyx craticulus ( Pollock, 1983 )

Bartels, Paul J., Fontoura, Paulo & Nelson, Diane R., 2018, Marine tardigrades of the Bahamas with the description of two new species and updated keys to the species of Anisonyches and Archechiniscus, Zootaxa 4420 (1), pp. 43-70 : 57

Styraconyx craticulus ( Pollock, 1983)

Material examined: Nine specimens, two females and seven specimens of undetermined gender (94–156 µm long). One specimen was collected at site 1, three at site 2, two at site 3, one at site 9, and two at site 11.

Remarks: A unique feature identifying S. craticulus and S. craticuliformis Chang & Rho, 1998 is a grid-like pattern on the dorsal cuticle (see Kristensen & Higgins 1984b and D’Addabbo Gallo et al. 1989 for keys to this genus). Other species in the keys, and additional species described by Chang & Rho (1998a) and Bartels et al. (2015a) do not exhibit this character. This pattern is visible in some, but not all, of our specimens. However, all specimens share the same claw structure, primary clavae and cirrus A, so we are confident that all specimens belong to the same species. Our specimens differ from S. craticuliformis by having primary clavae and lateral cirri enveloped by a common membrane extending beyond the base and by claws with secondary points longer than primary points.