Phylum Rotifera

(Rotifers, Wheel Animals) most aquatic forms are benthic or interstitial fauna

2200 living species some are planktonic

very few fossils have been found – since few hard some are epizoic or parasitic
parts
a few are sessile, living inside tubes or gelatinous
a group of microscopic animals discovered when secretions
microscopes were first being developed
a few rotifers are colonial
1st described in 1696 by Rev John Harris as “an animal like a
large maggot which could contract itself into a spherical most rotifers are 0.1-0.5 mm; but some up to 3 mm
figure and then stretch itself out again; the end of its tail long
appeared with a forceps like that of an earwig.”

von Leewenhoek himself describe a few species in the early some even smaller than some protozoa
1700’s
most are transparent, a few are brightly colored
“wheel bearers” = characteristic ciliated crown
= corona; resembles rotating wheels
great diversity in shape within the phylum
of all invertebrates, the rotifers are most characteristic
à somewhat correlated with their mode of life:
of freshwater habitats
floaters à globular and saclike
most species are common in freshwaters
creepers & swimmers à elongated and wormlike

some (<5%) are found in other habitats: sessile à vaselike

marine or brackish waters some species are cosmopolitan with a worldwide

distribution
a few are terrestrial, in moist soils &
damp mosses & lichens others with very restricted ranges
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Body Form in some: cuticle is very thick, caselike,

fibrous layer
body consists of: head, trunk, and foot
= lorica
head
ciliated corona (or crown) foot
narrow, often tapered, with 1 to 4 toes
gives impression of spinning wheel
often arranged in plates or rings
often with sensory bristles or papillae
often teloscopically retractile (external
used both for feeding segmentation)

draws a vortex of water into mouth for foot is an attachment organ

feeding
toes contain cement glands (=pedal glands)
mouth is inside corona
pedal glands secrete adhesive material
corona can also be used for locomotion
used by both sessile and creeping forms
trunk
foot reduced in pelagic forms
the trunk forms the major part of the body
many species secrete a wide variety of protective
encloses most of the internal organs tubes in which they live:

often elongated or sac-like gelatinous

often has sensory antennae constructed of small pieces of debris

often with false segmentation visible sometimes colored yellow, green or brown
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eutely as in nematodes eating anything small enough to fit in their mouths

Body Wall many are carnivores: feed on protozoa and small

animals
syncytial epidermis (= hypodermis)
some are cannibalistic
secretes thin flexible cuticle
others feed on dead organic matter
in some species some or all of the cuticle is
thickened into a rigid casing (= lorica) most feed by sweeping particles into mouth with
corona
bands of muscles below epidermis
can filter 100,000 x’s its own volume/hr

some circular; some longitudinal à rotifers are sometimes used in fish tanks to clear up
water clouded by organic particles
body cavity a fluid filled pseudocoelom
some are predatory and seek out their prey;
amoeboid cells circulate in fluid probably by touch or chemical stimuli

Movement complete digestive tract

some swim using coronal cilia which pull the animal inside mouth food is directed to a uniquely modified
through the water when unattached pharynx called a mastax that is constantly
working back and forth
some with creeping or leechlike movement
lots of variation in size & shape
some sessile and remain attached to the substrate
operated by bands of muscles
Feeding & Digestion
contains hard chitinous jaws (=trophi) that
most rotifers are omnivores suck in and grind up food
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Excretion
the pharynx leads to the esophagus which opens into
the stomach pair of protonephridial tubes with flame cells

tubes empty into bladder, then to cloaca

both digestion and absorption occurs in the
stomach Nervous System

short intestine leads from stomach to anus in foot bilobed brain dorsal to mastax

some species of rotifers have symbiotic zoochlorellae sends pairs of nerves to sense organs and viscera
within the cells of the stomach wall
senses:
Respiration
eye spots (up to 5)
rotifers have no specific organs for respiration
sensory bristles especiall around the corona
àtheir small size allows them to exchange (touch)
respiratory gasses by diffusion across their
body wall sensory pits lined with cilia in head region

rotifers have a relatively high metabolic rate conpared papillae

to other aquatic invertebrates
usuall 2 pairs of short dorsal antennae
generally have high O2 requirements
Life Cycle
others are capable of withstanding anaerobic or near
anaerobic conditions for extended periods rotifers are notable in that they have a much faster
metabolism than many other cold blooded
eg some live in anoxic mud or in sewage treatment plant
filters
invertebrates

they can grow and reproduce very quickly

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 they can grow from an egg to a reproducing adult in 18 hrs
rotifers even have poor ability to regenerate parts
rotifers can have up to 40 generations/yr
sexual reproduction predominates
in some species, females undergo
cyclomorphosis rotifers are dioecious

=a cyclical change in form of offspring however, females predominate in most

throughout the year populations

rotifer species are also noted for variations in size in some species males are unknown
and appearance in different habitats
males, when present, are minute, degenerate and/or
many rotifers are quite tolerant to drying or short-lived
desiccation (=anhydrobiosis)
commonly only ~1/3rd as long as females
under harsh conditions some can cease
metabolism and dehydrate in some species males are only found for a
few weeks each year
some rotifer eggs can also withstand drying
in others males are degenerate (no digestive
can survive for years (up to 9) and then be tract)
rehydrated and active within a few hours
males are ready for mating within an hour
some can form true cysts that are even more after hatching
resistant to extreme cold and heat
rotifers have internal fertilization
Reproduction
the male uses sensory receptors on its corona
asexual reproduction does not play a major role in this to find a female
phylum as it does in most other animal phyla
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the male attaches its penis to the coronal if a female with mictic eggs is not impregnated
region of the female and transfers sperm she immediately lays the eggs and they
in to her body cavity hatch as males

the male dies soon afterwards resting (winter) eggs:

in some species the males are unknown heavy and thick shelled

à females can reproduce by parthenogenesis overwinter on sediment

recent research has shown that the DNA of these rotifers is
loaded with genes from bacteria, fungi and plants
extremely resistant to drying and extreme
temperatures
this apparently provides adequate mutations to shuffle
genes as an alternative to sexual reproduction in some rotifers, the eggs are retained in the female
until they hatch (ovoviviparous)
in some species, females can produce different
kinds of eggs:
à rotifers bear live young
amictic eggs:
Ecology
diploid eggs produced by parthenogenesis
rotifers are an important part of aquatic foodchains
produced during most of the year
particularly planktonic food chains
mictic eggs:
à reproduce quickly into large populations
haploid eggs
important as food for larger zooplankton
and fish in aquatic ecosystems
capable of being fertilized by male sperm
rotifers affect the species composition of algae in
produced only at certain times of the year
ecosystems through their choice in grazing
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they also compete for the same food sources of
microcrustaceans common in the same habitats

also many species contribute to the decomposition of

organic matter in the soil

Evolutionary Relationships

while rotifers are typically considered with the

pseudocoelomate phyla, new molecular evidence
indicates that they are more closely related to
coelomates than pseudocoelomates

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