Chaetonotus (Zonochaetus) trichostichodes Brunson,1950

Chatterjee, Tapas & Todaro, M. Antonio, 2021, An annotated checklist of the chaetonotidan Gastrotricha from India, Zootaxa 5027 (3), pp. 332-350 : 339

Chaetonotus (Zonochaetus) trichostichodes Brunson,1950

Records from India. ANDHRA PRADESH: Visakhapatnam— Rao & Mohan (1987) ; GENERAL RECORD: Naidu & Rao (2004).

Habitat (as in Indian records). Freshwater; among aquatic vegetation.

Distribution. USA, India.

Remarks. This species has been found only twice, originally in the USA and then in India. The original description ( Brunson, 1950) is scanty and not additional information was provided by Rao & Mohan (1987). According to Brunson (1950), the body appears to be scaled but distinct scales were not observed; moreover, the only spines present, numbering 5, appear arranged in a transverse row across the dorsal anterior region of the trunk according to the drawing ( Brunson, 1950, Fig. 46, page 347). Indeed, all these characters combinations would make the species unique; however, a redescription of the taxon based on living specimens from the terra typica is much needed to allow morphological identification with some degree of confidence. In the meantime, records of the species from distant geographic areas (e.g., India) should be considered tentative.