Zawierucha Krzysztof, GĄsiorek Piotr, Buda Jakub, Uetake Jun, Janko Karel, Fontaneto Diego
Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznań, Poland Laboratory of Fish Genetics, Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Rumburska 89, 277 21 Libechov, Czech Republic.
Zootaxa. 2018 Mar 8;4392(2):311-328. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4392.2.5.
Glaciers and ice sheets are a peculiar biome with characteristic abiotic and biotic components. Mountain glaciers are predicted to decrease their volume and even to melt away within a few decades. Despite the threat of a disappearing biome, the diversity and the role of microscopic animals as consumers at higher trophic levels in the glacial biome still remain largely unknown. In this study, we report data on tardigrades and rotifers found in glacial mosses on Mount Stanley, Uganda, and describe a new tardigrade species. Adropion afroglacialis sp. nov. differs from the most similar species by having granulation on the cuticle, absence of cuticular bars under the claws, and a different macroplacoid length sequence. We also provide a morphological diagnosis for another unknown tardigrade species of the genus Hypsibius. The rotifers belonged to the families Philodinidae and Habrotrochidae. In addition, we discuss the diversity of microinvertebrates and potential role of tardigrades and rotifers on mountain glaciers as top consumers. As for any organism living apparently exclusively in glacial habitats on tropical glaciers, their extinction in the near future is inevitable, possibly before we can even discover their existence.
冰川和冰盖是一种具有独特非生物和生物成分的生物群落。预计山岳冰川的体积将会减小，甚至在几十年内就会融化殆尽。尽管这个生物群落面临消失的威胁，但作为冰川生物群落中较高营养级消费者的微型动物的多样性及其作用在很大程度上仍然未知。在本研究中，我们报告了在乌干达斯坦利山冰川苔藓中发现的缓步动物和轮虫的数据，并描述了一个新的缓步动物物种。新物种非洲冰川阿氏熊虫（Adropion afroglacialis sp. nov.）与最相似物种的区别在于其角质层有颗粒、爪下无角质条以及不同的大颚板长度序列。我们还对另一种未知的高生熊虫属（Hypsibius）缓步动物物种进行了形态学诊断。这些轮虫属于旋轮科（Philodinidae）和哈氏轮科（Habrotrochidae）。此外，我们讨论了微型无脊椎动物的多样性以及缓步动物和轮虫作为顶级消费者在山岳冰川上的潜在作用。至于任何明显仅生活在热带冰川的冰川栖息地中的生物，它们在不久的将来灭绝是不可避免的，甚至可能在我们发现它们的存在之前就已灭绝。
