Mesostygarctus intermedius Renaud-Mornant, 1979b

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, Bartels, Paul J., Roszkowska, Milena & Nelson, Diane R., 2015, The Zoogeography of Marine Tardigrada, Zootaxa 4037 (1), pp. 1-189 : 132-133

152. Mesostygarctus intermedius Renaud-Mornant, 1979b

Mesostygarctus intermedius n. sp. ( Renaud-Mornant 1979b)

Mesostygarctus intermedius, Renaud Mornant 1979 (Grimaldi de Zio et al. 1983b) Pseudostygarctus intermedius (Renaud-Mornant, 1979) (D’Addabbo Gallo et al. 2001, Grimaldi de Zio et al. 2003)

Terra typica: Indian Ocean ( Republic of Madagascar, Africa)

Adriatic Sea:

• 42°06 ′ N, 15°28′E; 3 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Foggia Province, Tremiti Islands, southern area of San Domino Island, in the proximity of Punta Zio Cesare, submarine cave Grotta delle Murene, cave’s entrance, coarse organogenic detritus. D’Addabbo Gallo et al. (2001), Grimaldi de Zio & D’Addabbo Gallo (2001)

• 42°06 ′ N, 15°28′E; 2 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Foggia Province, Tremiti Islands, southern area of San Domino Island, in the proximity of Punta Zio Cesare, submarine cave Grotta delle Murene, the end of the cave, coarse organogenic detritus. D’Addabbo Gallo et al. (2001), Grimaldi de Zio & D’Addabbo Gallo (2001)

• 42°06 ′ N, 15°29′E; 10 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Foggia Province, Tremiti Islands, southern area of San Domino Island, in the proximity of Punta Zio Cesare, submarine cave Grotta delle Viole, external cave’s entrance, coarse organogenic detritus. D’Addabbo Gallo et al. (2001), Grimaldi de Zio & D’Addabbo Gallo (2001), Grimaldi de Zio et al. (2003)

• 42°06 ′ N, 15°29′E; 5 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Foggia Province, Tremiti Islands, southern area of San Domino Island, in the proximity of Punta Zio Cesare, submarine cave Grotta delle Viole, internal opening, coarse organogenic detritus. D’Addabbo Gallo et al. (2001), Grimaldi de Zio & D’Addabbo Gallo (2001), Grimaldi de Zio et al. (2003)

Atlantic Ocean:

• 4°20′S to 4°50′S, 36°00′W to 37°15′W [04°35′S, 36°38′W]; 20–100 m bsl: [FAO41] Brazil, continental shelf off Ceará State and Rio Grande Do Norte State, fine to coarse quartz sand with detritus, and terrigenous mud. da Rocha et al. (2013)

• 8°25′20′′S, 34°54′00′′W [08°27′S, 34°59′W]; 0 m bsl: [FAO41] Brazil, Pernambuco State, Cupe Beach, macroalgae Caulerpa racemosa . da Rocha et al. (2009)

Indian Ocean:

• 23°23′S, 43°38′E; 0 m bsl: Type Locality: [FAO51] Republic of Madagascar, Toliara Province, Toliara, Mozambique Channel, great reef, station 5F, coralline sand. Renaud-Mornant (1979b)

Ionian Sea:

• 39°52′00′′N, 16°42′30′′E; 20–200 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Cosenza Province, High Ionian Sea offshore, Calabrian Coast, Amendolara Shoal, coralligenous sand, coralligenous sand mixed with debris, coarse medium or fine coralligenous sand (few samples). D’Addabbo Gallo et al. (1987), Grimaldi de Zio & D’Addabbo Gallo (1987), Grimaldi de Zio et al. (2003)

• 39°50′40′′N, 18°10′15′′E; 50 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Lecce Province, Lido Marini, subtidal. Grimaldi de Zio et al. (1983b)

Tyrrhenian Sea:

• 40°20′30′′N, 09°40′15′′E; 21–80 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Sardinia Island, Nuoro Province, Orosei Gulf, sand in Posidonia seagrass meadow and coralligenous detritus. Grimaldi de Zio & D’Addabbo Gallo (2001), Grimaldi de Zio et al. (2003)

• 38°36′N, 14°55′E; 40 and 46 m bsl: [FAO37] Italy, Aeolian Islands, Secca del Capo, coralligenous bank, subtidal zone, coarse coralligenous detritus. Grimaldi de Zio & D’Addabbo Gallo (2001)

Record numbers (Sea/Ocean classification): Adriatic Sea: 4, Atlantic Ocean: 2, Indian Ocean: 1, Ionian Sea: 2, Tyrrhenian Sea: 2; total: 11.

Record numbers (FAO classification): FAO37: 8, FAO41: 2, FAO51: 1; total: 11.

Remarks: Although originally described from tropical of Madagascar (southern hemisphere), most later reports are from the subtidal zone of the Mediterranean region (plus two recent reports from the Brazilian coast). This species is probably an intertidal to subtidal species inhabiting sand and detritus, and it has also been reported from marine cave sediments.