Xenotrichula velox Remane, 1927

Chatterjee, Tapas & Todaro, M. Antonio, 2021, An annotated checklist of the chaetonotidan Gastrotricha from India, Zootaxa 5027 (3), pp. 332-350 : 346

Xenotrichula velox Remane, 1927

Records from India. ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS: Rangat Bay, Bomilla creek, East Bay— Rao (1980, 1993); ANDHRA PRADESH: Visakhapatnam (Waltair)— Ganapati & Rao (1967), Rao & Ganapati (1968); ODI- SHA: Puri, Gopalpur, Konarak, Bhadua estuary— Rao (1969, 1989); LAKSHADWEEP: Kavartti, Kadmat, Androth— Rao (1991); GENERAL RECORD: Rao (1972), Naidu & Rao (2004), Rao (2005).

Habitat (as in Indian records). Marine, intertidal; coarse and medium sands up to 30 cm below surface.

Distribution. Europe and India (Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea).

Remarks. The species was originally described from the German coast of the Baltic Sea. Subsequently it has been recorded in other localities of Northern Europe and also in the Mediterranean Sea (see Ruppert, 1979). In India this species has been found several times but morphometric data have been provided only by Ganapati & Rao (1967) and some details by Rao (1993). According to these authors the Indian specimens agree well with the description of the European species, except “…. for minor variation in the length of the body part and the number of the rows of the dorsal dermal scales ’ Rao (1993). In our opinion the presence of this species in India needs to be confirmed by examining new material at morphological and molecular levels; until this is done X. velox should be considered as part of the Indian fauna tentatively.