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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Enteroplea

Enteroplea Ehrenberg, 1830

Order Ploimida: Family Notommatidae (ref. ID; 7097)

Synonym Triphylus Hudson & Gosse, 1889 (ref. ID; 3688) reported author and year? (ref. ID; 1923); Tryphylus Hudson, 1889 (ref. ID; 2978)

ref. ID; 1663

Gastric glands long, ribbon-like, and bifurcated. With four slender accessory gastric appendages. Body short and sac-like. Body length 600 µm long. Single uncommon littoral species. (ref. ID; 1663)

ref. ID; 1923

Single littoral species. Remane proposed to include Pseudoharringia, but was not followed by Wiszniewski. (1954) (ref. ID; 1923)

ref. ID; 3245

Notommatid rotifers with short, very stout, saccate, illoricate body; the head is short and broad, the neck well marked; the abdomen is slightly pyriform and ends in a short, sleevelike tail; two deep dorsal grooves at the points of attachment of the retractor muscles; the foot is short and indistinctly two-jointed; the toes are short and bladeshaped. The corona is frontal and consists of a marginal wreath of strong cilia and a transverse arc of moderately long cilia separating the apical plate and the unciliated buccal field. The mastax is a modified form of the virgate type, adapted to prehension; the fulcrum is short and broad, the rami lyrate and very powerful, denticulate on the inner margin; the unci have a single, very large tooth, clubbed at the point; the manubria are short and broad; two rudimentary salivary glands are present. The gastric glands are very long and ribbonlike; on the dorsal side of the stomach are four long, tubular, glandular appendages. The retrocerebral organ is rudimentary; both sac and glands are present. Two eyespots are seated on small knobs on the apical plate. (ref. ID; 3245)
  1. Enteroplea lacustris Ehrenberg, 1830 (ref. ID; 1345, 1663, 1923, 2017, 2796, 2994, 3208, 3245, 3506, 7846) or Hudson & Gosse, 1889 (ref. ID; 2757, 3688)
    Syn; Diglena lacustris Ehrenberg, 1832 (ref. ID; 3245) or Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1832 (ref. ID; 3688); Triphylus lacustris Hudson, 1889 (ref. ID; 1345, 3208, 3245)

Enteroplea lacustris Ehrenberg, 1830 (ref. ID; 1345, 1663, 1923, 2017, 2796, 2994, 3208, 3245, 3506, 7846) or Hudson & Gosse, 1889 (ref. ID; 2757, 3688)

Synonym

Diglena lacustris Ehrenberg, 1832 (ref. ID; 3245) or Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1832 (ref. ID; 3688); Triphylus lacustris Hudson, 1889 (ref. ID; 1345, 3208, 3245)

Descriptions

The body is short, saccate and very stout; its greatest width is nearly two thirds of the length of the body proper. The integument is very soft and flexible, but the outline remains quite constant. The entire body is very hyaline. The head is short and very broad; it is separated from the abdomen by a well defined constriction or neck immediately behind the mastax. The abdomen is slightly pyriform, ending posteriorly in a short, sleeve-like tail surrounding the base of the foot; postero-dorsally it has two parallel, deep, V-shaped grooves, caused by the pull of the dorsal retractor muscles, the broadened ends of which are attached to the internal apex of the V. The foot is indistinctly two-jointed, tapering and rather short, about one fifth of the length of the body; the terminal joint is nearly twice as long as the basal joint. The toes are nearly cylindric for one half of their length, with conical, acute points; their length is about one six-tenth of the total length. The dorsal antenna is a small, setigerous papilla in the normal position; the lateral antennae are quite close together, immediately in front of and above the tail. The corona is frontal and consists of a marginal wreath of strong cilia, interrupted dorsally and closed behind the mouth, which is near the ventral edge. The buccal field is in this species unciliated and somewhat depressed; its margin is indicate by a horseshoe-shaped band of cilia, separating it dorsally from the apical plate. The mastax belongs to the virgate type, but is somewhat modified, as the animal is carnivorous and the mallei have become adapted to the seizure of prey by prehension through the mouth opening. The rami are lyrate in ventral view and have prominent basal apophyses for the attachment of the abductor muscles; laterally they are expanded into broad, thin, somewhat asymmetric lamellae. Near mid-length they are bent at a rig angle; this median section is lamellae and denticulate on its inner edge, with fine striae continuing for some distance from the base of the denticles. At the apex of the angle there is on each ramus a strongly developed tooth, fitting into a groove on the opposite side. The dorsal ends of the rami form two powerful, curved, opposing teeth, separated from the central, denticulate section by an elongate oval opening. The fulcrum is a moderately long, broad lamella, expanded at the base of the rami and nearly parallel-sided posteriorly. The unci have a single, powerful tooth, somewhat curved and clubbed at the point, and a small accessory tooth, only half the length of the main tooth; the basal plate is roughly triangular. The manubria have a subsquare basal plate; the central section is continued as a nearly straight, slightly compressed rod, curved towards the ventral side at the extreme end. The epipharynx consists of two triangular plate, bent at a somewhat obtuse angle along the median line, and projecting forward at a right angle to the rami at the anterior apex. The piston is very large and almost completely fills the cavity of the mastax. There are two rudimentary salivary glands in the ventral angles of the mastax. The oesophagus begins high up on the dorsal side of the mastax; its walls are muscular and may be greatly distended to allow the passage of entire animals into the stomach. The gastric glands are long and ribbon-like; their ends are bifurcate. In addition to the glands there are four very long, slender gastric appendages, no doubt glandular in nature; two of these are a short distance below the gastric glands, the other near the posterior end of the stomach. There is no constriction between the stomach and intestine. The bladder is large. The foot glands are very long and slender, extending almost the entire length of the foot. The ganglion is relatively small and saccate. The retrocerebral sac is rudimentary and fused to the lower surface of the ganglion. Two small subcerebral glands are present; in the young animals they contain bacteroids and are consequently opaque, but with age they gradually become transparent. The two eyespots are on small knobs on the apical plate, a short distance below and outside the arc of cilia limiting the buccal field dorsally. (ref. ID; 3245)

Comments

It is very often found in company with Epiphanes (= Notops) clavulata, although they are not to be considered inseparable. (ref. ID; 3245)

Measurements

Total length 500-600; toes 30-35; trophi 70 long, 60 µm wide. (ref. ID; 3245)