Tardigrades of the Taimyr peninsula with descriptions of two new species

Abstract

This is the first report on tardigrades from the Taimyr peninsula. Seventy-one species of tardigrades were recorded, new to Russian fauna and two of which are new to science. Diphascon boreale sp. nov. is closely related to D. brevipes (Marcus, 1936) but easily distinguished from it by claw structure and the absence of articular bars on the legs. Isohypsibius roberti sp. nov. belongs to the elegans group of the genus Isohypsibius; it differs from other species in the group by having a long and thin buccal tube and large lunulae with small teeth on leg IV. The eggs of Ramazzottius montivagus are here described for the first time. The almost complete absence of tardigrades in and around Norilsk is noted. This is related to the heavy industrial pollution from a local nickel-copper plant. ©1996 The Linnean Society of London.