The tardigrade fauna of Tunisia, with an integrative description of <i>Bryodelphax maculatus</i> sp. nov. (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae)

The current knowledge of the diversity and distribution of tardigrade species in northern Africa is scarce and far from satisfactory. In this paper we review old and provide new faunistic records for various regions of Tunisia. Among the newly recorded taxa, we found a new heterotardigrade <i>Bryodelphax maculatus</i> sp. nov. The new species belongs to the <i>weglarskae</i> group, characterised by the presence of ventral plates, but differs from its congeners by a different arrangement of ventral plates and by conspicuous groups of cuticular tubercles on the ventral cuticle. The analysis of larval, juvenile and mature instars of the new species revealed, for the first time in heterotardigrades, ontogenetic variability in the development of ventral armature. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7EA21201-8C74-4BFD-8EAF-A131A78805F0目前学界对北非缓步动物（tardigrade）的物种多样性与分布现状的认知仍较为匮乏，远未达到令人满意的程度。本研究梳理了既往的缓步动物区系资料，并新增了突尼斯多个区域的新调查记录。在本次新增的类群记录中，我们发现了一个新的异缓步类（heterotardigrade）物种：*Bryodelphax maculatus* sp. nov.。该新种隶属于*weglarskae*类群，该类群以具有腹板为典型鉴别特征，但本新种与同属其他物种的区别在于：其腹板排布方式存在差异，且腹侧表皮上分布有显著的表皮突簇。通过对该新种幼体、亚成体及成体各龄期的形态分析，我们首次在异缓步类中发现了腹侧骨化结构发育过程中的个体发生变异。http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7EA21201-8C74-4BFD-8EAF-A131A78805F0