Echiniscidae (Tardigrada, Heterotardigrada) from Faial and Pico Islands, the Azores, with the description of two new species

Nine species of Echiniscidae (Heterotardigrada) are recorded for Faial and Pico Islands. Two of them, Echiniscus azoricus and Bryodelphax atlantis are new to science. Echiniscus merokensis Richters, 1904, Echiniscus perviridis Ramazzotti, 1959 and Echiniscus scabrospinosus Fontoura, 1982 are recorded in the Azores for the first time. Echiniscus azoricus n. sp. has dorsal plates sculptured with dark knobs surrounded by a ring of small pores. Lateral and dorsal appendages are spines B, C, D, E, C-d and D-d. Bryodelphax atlantis n. sp. has no ventral plates; it has small lateral supplementary plates between the paired plates, short filament A and a dentate collar on the hind legs with short and wide triangular teeth. A dichotomous key to the species of the genus Bryodelphax is also given.