Rotaria laticeps Wulfert, 1942

De Smet, Willem H., 2015, Rotifera from the Mediterranean Sea, with description of ten new species, Zootaxa 4028 (2), pp. 151-196 : 184

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.

Figures

FIGURE 26. Rotaria laticeps Wulfert, SEM photographs of trophi. A. Frontal view; B. caudal view. Scale bar: 10 µm.