Kauaʻi record · KCA-WOI-00041
Echiniscus cavagnaroi
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About Echiniscus cavagnaroi
Echiniscus cavagnaroi is a microscopic terrestrial tardigrade associated with mosses and lichens. Its four pairs of short legs end in hooked claws, and its back carries a series of hardened cuticular plates. Round pores in those plates and the arrangement of sensory appendages and spines are useful microscopic identification characters.
Spine patterns vary within this species. Meyer’s 2016 re-examination of the type material found that spines at positions C, dorsal D, and E may be present or absent, and their lengths vary. The same study corrected an earlier overestimate of the length of the head sensory cirrus A. A single idealized spine arrangement therefore cannot establish the identity of every specimen.
The Kauaʻi occurrence retained by the Atlas comes from moss-and-lichen sampling dated 2011 and the cited Oceania taxonomic account. It documents an island occurrence without claiming current abundance or island-wide distribution. The primary plate is an educational reconstruction of a whole specimen in a hydrated moss-and-lichen microhabitat.
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Echiniscus cavagnaroi
- Family
- Echiniscidae
- Order
- Echiniscoidea
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Documented source record (2011)
- Origin
- Origin not yet resolved
- Conservation status
- Not assessed
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal description
- Echiniscus cavagnaroi 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.