Rotifera from the Mediterranean Sea, with description of ten new species
Author
De Smet, Willem H.
text
Zootaxa
2015
4028
2
151
196
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.4028.2.1
2baa825b-3af6-49ff-896e-f5cb990b4d62
1175-5326
240556
D47167E0-5C14-47F9-B4AA-9E906D13DF89
Rotaria laticeps
Wulfert, 1942
Rotaria laticeps
is to date only known with certainty from the Mediterranean Sea. This strictly saline species was originally described from algae in a canal connecting a salt marsh (salinity 27.6–77.2 ‰) with the Adriatic Sea (
Wulfert 1942
). It occurred in almost all present areas studied, and was formerly reported for the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian and Ionian Sea by
Fontaneto
et al
. (2008b
,
c
), the Costa Blanca, Hyères Archipelago and Tyrrhenian Sea (
De Smet 2009
), and a retrodunal pond (salinity 8 ‰, algae at −
0.5 m
) at the Costa Paradiso, Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia, W. Mediterranean Sea by Curini-Galletti
et al
. (2012). It is often one of the numerically dominant rotifers in periphyton, psammon, and benthic sandy detritus up to
8 km
off shore and a depth of
45 m
.
A record, perhaps doubtful, is from inland saline Neusiedler See, by
Donner (1972)
. A species differing from the nominate species, and requiring further study, was reported as
R.
?
laticeps
from sediments and mosses of the alpine freshwater Slippery Rock Creek, Victoria,
Australia
by Ricci
et al
. (2003).
The ramate trophi (
Fig. 26
) show two pairs of major unci teeth, 16–17 pairs of minor unci teeth in the proximal, and 9–12 pairs in the distal group.