''Oreella'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
tardigrade
Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ...
s in the family Oreellidae. It is the only genus of that family. It was named and described by
James Murray in 1920; the family Oreellidae was named and described by
Giuseppe Ramazzotti in 1962.
Ramazzotti gave the first modern description of the genus with his findings on ''O. minor'', which was differentiated from another species by the name of ''O. mollis'' by its smaller size, spur presence on internal claws, and briefer stylets.
Characteristics such as these can be considered as insufficient evidence of the delineation between species, however the differences in size of ''O. minor'' (≤170µm) and ''O. mollis'' (≤251µm), as well as the presence of the aforementioned claw spurs, would be considered notable features.
Species
The genus ''Oreella'' contains the following species:
* ''
Oreella chugachii''
Calloway, Miller, Johansson & Whiting, 2011
* ''
Oreella mollis
''Oreella'' is a genus of tardigrade
Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1 ...
''
Murray, 1910
* ''
Oreella vilucensis''
Rahm, 1931
References
Tardigrade genera
Echiniscoidea
{{Tardigrade-stub