Kauaʻi record · KCA-WOI-00040
Dipodarctus anaholiensis
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About Dipodarctus anaholiensis
Dipodarctus anaholiensis is a microscopic marine tardigrade described from Anahola Bay, Kauaʻi, in 1995. It inhabits the seawater-filled spaces between beach-sand grains. Like other tardigrades, its compact body has four pairs of legs. The original description emphasizes the coarsely punctate cuticle and long, tapering sensory appendages around the head.
Its feet carry slender digits rather than the large, bear-like claws often used in generic tardigrade illustrations. The first three leg pairs have short digits of similar lengths; the fourth pair differs, with longer medial digits. These microscopic structures, together with the head appendages and cuticle, matter for identification.
The Kauaʻi record is tied to Pollock’s original taxonomic study, not a new island survey. Later scientific work also reports the species in coral sand outside Hawaiʻi, but that does not establish its current abundance or distribution on Kauaʻi. The Atlas plate is a species-guided reconstruction of a whole organism in its marine sand microhabitat.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Dipodarctus anaholiensis
- Family
- Halechiniscidae
- Order
- Arthrotardigrada
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Documented source record (1995)
- Origin
- Origin not yet resolved
- Conservation status
- Not assessed
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal description
- Dipodarctus anaholiensis is documented in a Kauaʻi source record. Wave 01 preserves the taxon concept exactly as reported. Current accepted-name reconciliation remains open; occurrence is not represented as a 2026 observation.