Lepidochaetus zelinkai ( Grünspan, 1908 )

Bharti, Daizy & Kumar, Santosh, 2019, Short Communication First record of Lepidochaetus zelinkai (Gastrotricha, Chaetonotida) from India, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 119 (4) : -

Lepidochaetus zelinkai ( Grünspan, 1908) ( Figure 1 A-G, 2A-G, 3A-F)

The shape of Lepidochaetus zelinkai is ten-pin, long and slender with a distinct three to five-lobed head and large cephalion with shield. The mean dimensions are: body length = 190 μm, body maximum width = 35 μm, head width = 50 μm, cephalion shield width = 40 μm, mouth length = 12 μm, pharynx length = 48 μm, pharynx width = 20 μm, trunk width = 33 μm, trunk cirri length = 14 μm, posterior most spine = 60 μm, Adhesive tube length = 31 μm, scales = 7 μm (observations based on 6 specimens from live). The indistinct neck separates the head from the trunk. The trunk narrows posteriorly into furca, each furcal branch with a single adhesive tube. Dorsal scales with double anterior edge, elliptical to heart shaped and partially overlaps. Three pairs of thin and long spines at the posterior dorsal trunk, overshoot the furcal branches.

The Indian population of Lepidochaetus zelinkai ( Grünspan, 1908) shows similarity with the previously known populations for all the morphological characters. The species has a rather common distribution worldwide. It has been reported from Europe, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Korea, and Japan ( Grünspan, 1908; Greuter, 1917; Rudescu, 1967; Sudzuki, 1971; Grosso, 1976; Martin, 1981; Schwank, 1990; Kisielewski, 1991, 1998; Balsamo and Tongiorgi, 1995; Lee and chang, 2000; Kånneby, 2011). The present study report its presence from a soil sample

Figures

Figure 1. Photomicrographs ofLepidochaetus zelinkai from live. A, B, E. Specimens, showing the body shape. C, D. Details of mouth, tentacles (arrowheads in C), pharynx (C) and long and thin posterior spine (arrowhead in D). F, G. Anterior and middle portion of a specimen showing mouth, tentacles (arrowheads in F) and internal structures. At, adhesive tubes; C, cirri; EG, epidermal gland; M, mouth; P, pharynx; PJ, pharyngeal junction; Pn, protonephridia; S, scales. Scale bars, 50 μm.