Chaetonotus Ehrenberg, 1830

Balsamo, Maria, Pierboni, Lara & Grilli, Paolo, 2009, Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on freshwater Gastrotricha, Zootaxa 2158, pp. 1-19 : 5

Genus Chaetonotus Ehrenberg, 1830

Ehrenberg, C.G. (1830) Beiträge zur kenntnis der Organization der Infusorien und ihrer geographischen Verbreitung besonders in Sibirien. Abhandlung Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin. Jahrgang, 44.

Typus generis: Chaetonotus larus (Müller, 1773) ; original designation.

Emended diagnosis: Chaetonotinae with body 60–625 µm long. Cephalic plates (kephalion, epipleuria, hypopleuria) usually present, and often well developed. Hypostomion occasionally present. Furcal adhesive tubes occasionally very short. Dorsal cuticular covering of numerous scales arranged in longitudinal rows and provided with well developed spines. Rounded, one-lobed or three-lobed scales with an anterior ridge or an axial keel, in some cases with three radial keels.

Spines very short up to very long, without or with 1 (occasionally 2) accessory point. Some spines greatly longer than the others can be present dorsally on the trunk or dorsolaterally at the furcal base. An area with scales with short or very short spines or even without spines is often present dorsally on the posteriormost trunk region. Dorsal and ventral interciliary cuticular coverings similar to or different in scale distribution and shape. Posterior and often anterior pharynx thickenings are sometimes present. Freshwater, brackish-water and marine. Benthic, interstitial and periphytic.