Gourt > Science > Biology > Flora and Fauna > Animalia > Rotifera
The rotifers make up a phylum of microscopic, and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by John Harris in 1696 (Hudson and Gosse, 1886). Leeuwenhoek is mistakenly given credit for being the first to describe rotifers but Harris had produced sketches in 1703. Most rotifers are around 0.1-0.5 mm long, and are common in freshwater throughout the world with a few saltwater species.
Rotifers get their name (derived from Latin and meaning "wheel-bearer"; they have also been called wheel animalcules) from the corona, which is composed of several ciliated tufts around the mouth that in motion resemble a wheel. These create a current that sweeps food into the mouth, where it is chewed up by a characteristic pharynx (mastax) containing tiny jaws. It also pulls the animal, when unattached, through the water. Most free-living forms have pairs of posterior toes to anchor themselves while feeding.
There are a variety of different shapes of rotifer. There is a well-developed cuticle which may be thick and rigid, giving the animal a box-like shape, or flexible, giving the animal a worm-like shape; such rotifers are respecitvely called loricate and illoricate. Many rotifers swim, and some illoricate forms move by inchworming along the substrate. Other rotifers are sessile, living inside tubes or gelatinous holdfasts. About 25 species are colonial (i.e. Sinantherina semibullata), either sessile or planktonic. Like many other microscopic animals, adult rotifers frequently exhibit eutely - they have a fixed number of cells within a species, usually on the order of one thousand.
More on [ Rotifer ]
@LouiseJJohnson 7. Annoyed that I missed rotifera.
jamesmcgraw (James McGraw) Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:25:18 -0000
@LouiseJJohnson 7. Annoyed that I missed rotifera.
Digital Video Gallery: Pond Life - Includes multiple videos of 10 genera of Rotifera, along with many species of Protozoans, Algae, and other organisms.
Meta Description: [ The Pond Life section of the Molecular Expressions Digital Video Gallery features videos of a wide variety of common microscopic pond organisms. ]
Introduction to the Rotifera - Photographs and a brief discussion about rotifers, with additional information about bdelloid rotifers.
Keratella Rotifers - Photographs, bibliographic information and technical details about genus Keratella.
Life in a drop of water: rotifers, pond life - Mike Morgan's article in Micscape magazine, with several photographs of British rotifers.
Meselson Laboratory Rotifer Research - Current research and information on their studies of bdelloid rotifers and the mechanisms maintaining recombination in evolution.
Meta Description: [ Meselson Laboratory Home Page: current research and information on our studies of bdelloid rotifers and the mechanisms maintaining recombination in evolution ]
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Minor Invertebrate Phyla - Phylum Rotifera - This is a brief introduction to the rotifers, with two beautiful pictures, from the Biological Sciences at the University of Paisley.
Observing a Rotifer Birth - A lucky amateur microscopist captured the birth of a rotifer on film!
Meta Description: [ Home-made microtome ]
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Philodina - Richard Fox's guide to the anatomy of Philodina, the world's most common metazoan.
Rotifer Culture - Production and application of rotifers in aquaculture.
Rotifer Systematic Database - Rotifer taxonomy, anatomy, reproduction and behavior.
Rotifera - Lots of great rotifer pictures and references.
Rotifera in Bromeliad Phytotelmata - List and description of rotifers associated with bromeliads in Jamaica.
Rotifers - Stunning photographs and descriptions of rotifers by Wim van Egmond.
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Rotifers - Guide to anatomy, with many images of Texas species.
Rotifers and how to find them - Roy Winsby's article from Micscape Magazine.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Photographs of a rotifer and her eggs being predated by protozoa.
The rotifer jaw - Photograph, diagram and brief description of a rotifer jaw.
Meta Description: [ The rotifer jaw ]
The Wonder of the Rotifer - A Micscape article, complete with movie and sound effects, about the structure and feeding behavior of rotifers.
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