Thaumastoderma heideri Remane, 1926

Chatterjee, Tapas, Priyalakshmi, Geetha & Todaro, M. Antonio, 2019, An annotated checklist of the macrodasyidan Gastrotricha from India, Zootaxa 4545 (4), pp. 495-510 : 505

Thaumastoderma heideri Remane, 1926

Records from India. ANDHRA PRADESH: Visakhapatnam (Waltair)— Ganapati & Rao (1967), Rao & Ganapati (1968b); ODISHA: Puri, Gopalpur, Bahuda estuary—Rao (1969, 1989); ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS— Hut Bay, Little Andaman, South Bay—Rao (1975, 1980b, 1993); LAKSHADWEEP—Kavaratti, Minicoy—Rao (1991); WEST BENGAL: Medinipur, South 24 Parganas—Sanyal et al. (2012); GENERAL RECORD: Rao (1972), Naidu & Rao (2004), Rao (2005).

Habitat (as in Indian records). Marine, intertidal; medium sand with little organic detritus, 5–25 cm below surface near mid-water level.

Distribution. Originally described from Kieler Bucht, ( Germany), the species has been subsequently recorded from several areas and localities including, North Europe, British islands, Mediterranean sea, Atlantic and Gulf coast of the USA, Maldives and India.

Remarks. According to the literature, the species appears to be eurytopic, having been found at different depths and in sediments of various grain sizes. The wide distribution, the variety of habitats, and descriptions sometimes discordant, call for a better comparison of the geographic populations; hopefully based also on molecular data.