Homology of the head sensory structures between Heterotardigrada and Eutardigrada supported in a new species of water bear (Ramazzottiidae: Ramazzottius)

Abstract

Phylum Tardigrada is represented by microscopic eight-legged panarthropods that inhabit terrestrial and marine environments. Although tardigrades are emerging model animals for areas of research including physiology, evolutionary biology, and astrobiology, knowledge of their external morphology remains insufficient. For instance, homologies between marine and terrestrial relatives largely remain unexplored. In the present study we provide detailed pictures of the head sensory organs in a new tardigrade, Ramazzottius groenlandensis sp. nov. Specimens were collected from a mixed moss and lichen sample on Ella Island, East Greenland. The new species differs from congeneric species in the presence of polygonal sculpturing on the dorsal cuticle, which is accentuated in the posterior region of the body, a lateral papilla on leg IV, and distinctive egg morphology. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis (18S rRNA + 28S rRNA + COI) places the new species within the genus Ramazzottius with high confidence. Interestingly, the new species shows a full set of well-developed cephalic organs, which correspond to all sensory fields found in eutardigrades. Details on the full set of head organs were present only for heterotardigrades. The surface of these organs is covered with small pores, which presumably play a sensory role. This discovery suggests the homology of head sensory structures between heterotardigrades and eutardigrades, implying that the distinctive arrangement and positioning of sensory organs on the head is a plesiomorphic feature of tardigrades. Moreover, we find that the Ramazzottius oberhaeuseri morphotype forms a morphogroup, not a monophyletic species complex.