The first Paramacrobiotus (Tardigrada) species with elongated claws discovered from Giannutri Island (Tuscan Archipelago, Italy)

The Tuscan islands located between the Italian Peninsula and Corsica, are a highly biodiverse Archipelago and represent a unique open-air laboratory for the study of islands biology. While many plants and animals have been traditionally surveyed and studied in this system, almost no records of tardigrades are present. We present here the first tardigrade records from Giannutri Island, with the identification of the genera Mesobiotus and Paramacrobiotus. The Paramacrobiotus individuals belong to a new species which is here described as Paramacrobiotus mariettae n. sp. by integrating morphological and molecular (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, ITS2, and COI) data. This new species represents also the first described Paramacrobiotus taxon with elongated claws, a feature usually associated with fully aquatic or nival species. This study show how, even with a very limited sampling effort, the tardigrade fauna of Tuscan Archipelago may reveal unexpected findings and calls for a more extensive exploration. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1274715F-B687-4CBE-97C1-E7A595AC44BF.