Zoogeographic distribution of terrestrial/freshwater tardigrades from current literature

Abstract

The literature on terrestrial and freshwater Tardigrada is relatively limited, being concerned with 617 species world wide. Many of the references are in obscure publications. This paper attempts to bring this information together, tabulating the numbers of tardigrade species recorded from terrestrial and freshwater habitats in various countries and the number of countries from which tardigrades have been recorded. Each record is cross-referenced to the author in the references. It is hoped this paper will serve as a reference point and background for further zoogeographic studies.

Keywords :

• Tardigrada
• zoogeographic distribution
• freshwater
• terrestrial