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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 1699

Birger Pejler and Bruno Berzins; On choice substrate and habitat in bdelloid rotifers. Hydrobiologia 255/256:333-338, 1993

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Information on the distributions of 77 bdelloid rotifers from diverse waters in south and central Sweden was analyzed to reveal their relationships to substrate and habitat. Only two species were reported from plankton, both in low frequency. An artifical substrate, white cotton, was utilized only by few bdelloids, mainly by species with eyes. Only one species occurred at higher frequency on the saprobic substrate Sphaerotilus. Most bdelloids prefer environments rich in oxygen, but some species may be found in soft-bottom sediments. Several species dwell preferentially in diverse habitats of bogs. Some bdelloids have an exceptionally broad ecological range, but even for these is it possible to distinguish a pattern of preference and avoidance.