19. Echiniscus testudo (Doyère, 1840) Figures 34–36 Synonyms Echiniscus bellermanni C.A.S. Schultze, 1840: C.A.S. Schultze (1861) Echiniscus biunguis C.A.S. Schultze, 1861: Cuénot (1932) Echiniscus filamentosus Plate, 1888: Gąsiorek et al. (2017) Echiniscus glaber Bartoš, 1937: Gąsiorek et al. (2017) Echiniscus inermis Richters, 1902: Cuénot (1932) Echiniscus peruvianus Binda & Pilato, 1994: Gąsiorek et al. (2021d) Emydium testudo Doyère, 1840 Echiniscus trifilis Rahm, 1925: Cuénot (1932) Locus typicus: France, Paris. New type locality: 48°53’10’’N, 2°19’54’’E, 70 m asl: France, Paris, Montmartre Cemetery. Etymology: From Latin testūdō = tortoise, probably stressing the presence of dorsal armour. A noun in apposition. Shortened description. Medium-sized to large (ca. 280–360 μm). Body appendage configuration A-(B)-C- Dd- E, with frequent asymmetries. All lateral appendages cirrous, whereas Dd –spiniform (Fig. 34A). Dorsal plate sculpturing of the testudo type, with small, numerous and randomly distributed pseudopores (Fig. 35). Dentate collar IV with usually less than 10 short and irregular teeth. Claws elongated and strongly heteronych, with minute, needle-like primary spurs closely positioned to claw bases (Fig. 36). Larvae with reduced chaetotaxy, their body appendage formula: A-Dd- E (Fig. 34B). Pseudopores poorly developed, so sometimes the surface of plates may seem to be smooth in LM. Phylogenetic position: Echiniscus testudo is an isolated evolutionary lineage, currently with no revealed close relatives (Fig 1–2, see Remarks). Remarks: The species is cosmopolitan (McInnes 1994; Jørgensen et al. 2007, 2013; Gąsiorek et al. 2017, 2019c, 2021d), probably as a result of anthropogenically-mediated dispersal. The closest relatives of E. testudo likely are E. ehrenbergi Dastych & Kristensen, 1995 and another dark-pigmented species from the Himalayas (termed “ E. cf. testudo ” in Jørgensen et al. 2007), based on an identical chaetotaxy and similar dorsal plate sculpturing.

Published as part of Gąsiorek, Piotr & Vončina, Katarzyna, 2023, Atlas of the Echiniscidae (Heterotardigrada) of the World-part I: West Palaearctic Echiniscus species, pp. 1-72 in Zootaxa 5344 (1) on page 55, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5344.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8346050