Gastrotricha

[75RR]

3 passes of the same Gastrotricha



+ Key: https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... f/download
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[Wes]

Interesting and sharp video but I admit I know nothing about gastrotrichs. What are they most related to?

[75RR]

Thanks Wes

What are they most related to?

I think they are pretty much on their own. Very graceful swimmers.

http://www.gastrotricha.unimore.it/

Though gastrotrichman would probably be the man to ask.

[mintakax]

Very nice video 75RR ! I see these a lot in my pond samples, they are very cool and graceful and look like good hunters.

[gastrotrichman]

Nice video. The animal is in the genus Chaetonotus, which is a very large genus; spines, like those seen along the sides of this specimen, are characteristic of the genus. "Chaetonotus" is usually translated as "spiny-back" and refers to spines that are present on dorsal scales. Identification to species is challenging … an expert might venture a guess regarding the video specimen, but I lack the skill to offer even a guess. The animal passes by in the video ventral side up. You can see the round mouth at the anterior end (right end in the video), the pair of ventral cilia bands, and the forked "furca" at the posterior end. The animal can cement itself in place by discharging "glue" from the tubes that extend from the furca. Some species will glue themselves to the substrate in a fraction of a second if they detect the movement of water being sucked up with a fine-tipped pipette ... makes capturing them challenging. There is at least one point in the video where the animal very briefly shows tiny scales in the midventral field and a pair of larger plates at the posterior end of the ventral field just anterior to the furca.

The answer to the question about relatives is way above my pay grade. Sorry. Some evidence seems to point to a relationship between gastrotrichs and rotifers, but I think the jury is still out.

Thanks for sharing ... I always enjoy seeing gastrotrichs. You did well to capture those tiny scales in the ventral field.

[75RR]

Thanks mintakax and gastrotrichman, agree they are pretty cool.