Gnesiotrocha de Beauchamp, 1965

Davies, Natalie, Lafleur, Alexandre, Hochberg, Rick, Walsh, Elizabeth J. & Wallace, Robert L., 2024, Key to sessile gnesiotrochan rotifers: Families, monospecific species in Flosculariidae, species of Atrochidae, Conochilidae, and Limnias, Zootaxa 5397 (4), pp. 497-520 : 499

Superorder Gnesiotrocha de Beauchamp, 1965

Within the diversity exhibited by rotifers, superorder Gnesiotrocha are distinct from superorder Pseudotrocha (order Ploima ) in that all gnesiotrochans (1) possess a foot that lack toes, (2) their anterior end is either a funnel-shaped structure or possesses ciliated lobes, and (3) their trophi are either malleoramate or uncinate ( Edmondson 1959; Koste 1978; Ruttner-Kolisko 1974; Wallace & Snell 2010; Wallace et al. 2006). Ploimids may lack a foot, and, if present, may possess toes; their anterior end and trophi do not resemble that of the sessile taxa. Uncinate trophi possess few teeth: usually one or more large, pincer-like teeth and a few smaller teeth ( Fig. 2A ); malleoramate trophi possess crescent-shaped manubria and unci with numerous club-shaped teeth ( Fig. 2B ). Teeth close to the fulcrum are usually larger than those more distant. Trophi in the Flosculariaceae characteristically exhibit a grinding or pounding-like action, which is not seen in the Collothecacea .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Schematic view comparing uncinate (A) and malleoramate trophi (B). Trophi are not drawn to the same scale. Symbols = F = fulcrum; M = manubrium; R – ramus; U = unci. Compare these schematics to the variation of trophi form shown in figures 13.10 and 13.11 in Wallace et al. (2015).