Minibiotus intermedius ( Plate, 1888 ), 2017

Kaczmarek, Łukasz, 2017, Annotated zoogeography of non-marine Tardigrada. Part IV: Africa, Zootaxa 4284 (1), pp. 1-74 : 53-54

155. Minibiotus intermedius ( Plate, 1888) sensu lato [T]

MacRobiotus inteRmedius Plate. ( Pardi 1941, Iharos 1978)

M. inteRmedius Plate ( Murray (1913)

MacRobiotus inteRmedius Plate 1888 (da Cunha & do Nascimento 1964) MacRobiotus inteRmedius ( Iharos 1969a)

Minibiotus inteRmedius (Plate, 1889) (Pilato et al. 1991, Fontoura et al. 2010) Minibiotus inteRmedius Plate 1888 (Binda et al. 2001)

Minibiotus inteRmedius ( Middleton 2003)

Terra typica : Chile (South America)

Angola:

• 07°25′S, 15°06′E; 850 m asl: Uíge Province, Mahondo , mosses and lichens. da Cunha & do Nascimento (1964)

• 07°47′S, 15°01′E; 650 m asl: Uíge Province, near Carmona [Uíge], Estate at Pumba Loge, mosses and lichens. da Cunha & do Nascimento (1964)

• 14°55′S, 13°30′E; 1,750 m asl: Huíla Province, surroundings of Sá da Bandeira [Lubango], mosses and lichens. da Cunha & do Nascimento (1964)

Botswana:

• 19°10′S, 23°25′E; 950 m asl: North West District, Moremi , moss or lichen on tree or rock. Middleton (2003)

Cameroon:

• 04°57′N, 09°56′E; 800 m asl: Littoral Region, Kongsamba [ Nkongsamba ], moss on tree. Iharos (1969a)

• 04°39′N, 09°25′E; 600 m asl [400 m asl]: Southwest Region, Kumba, shore of Lake Barombi Mbo, protected rainforest, moss on tree. Iharos (1969a)

• 04°12′N, 09°12′E; 2,900–3,000 m asl: Southwest Region, Mount Cameroon National Park, Mount Cameroon, moss on tree and lava blocks. Iharos (1969a)

• 04°11′N, 09°12′E; 1,950–2,050 m asl: Southwest Region, Mount Cameroon National Park, Mount Cameroon, S side, grassy lava field and the area of the timberline by trees and lava. Iharos (1969a)

• 04°10′N, 09°13′E; 1,300–1,500 m asl: Southwest Region, Mount Cameroon National Park, Mount Cameroon, rainforest, moss on tree. Iharos (1969a)

Democratic Republic of Congo:

• 01°10′S, 28°28′E; 1,000 m asl: North Kivu Province, outskirts of Mohanga, moss ( Entodon sp.). Binda et al. (2001)

Ethiopia:

• 04°03′N, 38°19′E; 1,700 m asl: Oromia Region, Mēga, former English residence moss from tree ( JunipeRus pRoceRa). Pardi (1941)

Kenya:

• 00°01′S, 37°54′E: Undefined locality, British East Africa [ Kenya], moss. Murray (1913)

Lesotho:

• 29°35′S, 29°17′E; 2,900 m asl: Thaba-Tseka District, Sani Pass , lichen on stone fence. Meyer & Hinton (2009)

Republic of South Africa:

• 24°38′S, 30°51′E; 1,800 m asl: Undefined locality, Gauteng or Mpumalanga Province, Dragon Mountains, near the canyon of Blade River, moss on soil in the grass. Kaczmarek & Michalczyk (2004b)

• 28°13′S, 31°57′E; 350 m asl: KwaZulu-Natal Province, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Park , lichen on tree ( Acacia ). Meyer & Hinton (2009)

• 29°44′S, 30°32′E; 750 m asl: KwaZulu-Natal Province, Tala Private Game Reserve , lichen on tree ( Acacia ). Meyer & Hinton (2009)

• 34°01′S, 23°55′E; 200 m asl: Eastern Cape Province, Tzitzikama [Tsitsikamma National Park], moss. Binda (1984)

Tanzania:

• 03°09′S, 35°29′E: Undefined locality, Arusha Region, Ngorongoro Volcano, mosses. Pilato et al. (1991)

• 34°01′S, 23°55′E; 200 m asl: Eastern Cape Province, Tzitzikama [Tsitsikamma National Park], moss. Pilato et al. (1991)

Tunisia:

• 36°57′N, 08°45′E; 0 m asl: Jendouba Governorate, surroundings of Tabarka. Binda & Pilato (1987)

• 36°46′N, 08°41′E; 700 m asl: Jendouba Governorate, surroundings of Ain Draham, forest of QueRcus saubeR and Q. libanotis , moss on soil. Iharos (1978)

• 36°46′N, 08°41′E; 700 m asl: Jendouba Governorate, Ain Draham , moss on rock. Iharos (1978)

Record numbers. Angola: 3, Botswana: 1, Cameroon: 5, Democratic Republic of Congo: 1, Ethiopia: 1, Kenya: 1, Lesotho: 1, Republic of South Africa: 4, Tanzania: 2, Tunisia: 3; total: 22.

Remarks. Originally described from Chile ( Plate 1888), Minibiotus intermedius was considered cosmopolitan (e.g. McInnes 1994) though modern taxonomy has shown it to be a species complex ( Claxton 1998). It is most probable that non-Neotropical records for Minibiotus intermedius actually refer to different taxon within the species-group; several of which have been recently described from African locations. All African records for M. intermedius should be re-examined.