Acanthodasys aculeatus Remane, 1927

Chatterjee, Tapas, Priyalakshmi, Geetha & Todaro, M. Antonio, 2019, An annotated checklist of the macrodasyidan Gastrotricha from India, Zootaxa 4545 (4), pp. 495-510 : 501

Acanthodasys aculeatus Remane, 1927

Records from India. ANDHRA PRADESH: Visakhapatnam (Waltair)— Ganapati & Rao (1967), Rao & Ganapati (1968b); ODISHA (Orissa): Bahuda estuary—Rao (1989); ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS: West Bay, Mayabandar, north Andaman; Car Nicobar, East point—Rao (1975, 1980b, 1993). LAKSHADWEEP: Kavaratti— Rao (1991); WEST BENGAL: Medinipur,— Sanyal et al. (2012); GENERAL RECORD—Rao (1972), Naidu & Rao (2004), Rao (2005).

Habitat (as in Indian records). Marine, Intertidal; Medium and coarse coralline sand with little detritus, 20 cm below surface between half and low tide level

Distribution. Widespread species, recorded from numerous areas and localities outside the type locality (Düne-Helgoland, Germany), these include North Europe, British islands, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the USA, Red Sea, Maldives, and India (Arabic sea and Bay of Bengal).

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 description, which sometime are discordant, call for a better comparison of the geographic populations, hopefully based also on molecular data.