Stylochaeta scirtetica Brunson, 1950

Schwank, Peter & Kånneby, Tobias, 2014, Contribution to the freshwater gastrotrich fauna of wetland areas of southwestern Ontario (Canada) with redescriptions of seven species and a check-list for North America, Zootaxa 3811 (4), pp. 463-490 : 465

Stylochaeta scirtetica Brunson, 1950

( Fig. 2 )

Syn. Stylochaeta curviseta Krivanek & Krivanek, 1959

Localities: Ponds near Waterloo and in the Puslinch district.

Material: 8 specimens.

Krivanek & Krivanek (1959) hypothesized that Stylochaeta scirtetica could be identical to Stylochaeta curviseta , which they described from Louisiana, USA. Morphology now makes clear that S. curviseta is a synonym of S. scirtetica . Both the Canadian specimens and the specimens found in Hesse, Germany bear the special scutiform spines in front of the first bundle of thick movable spines (“Springstacheln”). These structures were first described for S. curviseta and later also confirmed in S. scirtetica by Brunson in his correspondence with Krivanek and Krivanek. The same spines are also present in specimens of S. scirtetica collected in Sweden by Kånneby (2012) ( Fig. 2 ). S. scirtetica is common in shallow habitats with Lemna spp. but also appears among the stems of Phragmites australis and among water lilies.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Stylochaeta scirtetica, lateral view. Arrow indicates the scutiform scale. Scale bar 10 µm.