| Rotaria socialis, two of several specimens between the legs of a gammarid crustacean. (3) |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, whirling specimen; frontal view on the corona. (3) |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, whirling. A very large bdelloid rotifer with conspicuous long spurs. (1) |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, whirling. This species has a very prominent bulge of the cingulum (arrowheads). The rostrum is orientated perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the animal while whirling. While most Rotaria-species have eyespots on the rostrum this species is eyeless. (the other eyeless Rotaria species is Rotaria sordida). (1) |
| |
  |
  |
| Rotaria socialis, anterior part of creeping specimen in dorsoventral view.Upper left: The trochal discs are retracted.Focus plane on the rostral lamella(1). Upper right image: detail of the rostrum . Lower left: rostrum with rostral cilia.Lower left: optical dorsoventral section of the anterior part of specimen from (2). (The plane of the longitudinal section is marked in the lateral view in the image below). Br: brain; DA: (base of) dorsal antenna; Mx: mastax with trophi, (dental formula 2/2). The asterisks mark the subcerebral glands. |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, another (pregnant) specimen whirling. (1) |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, foot with conspicuous spurs with bulbous base and small interspace. Length of spurs about 60µm. (1) |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, lateral view of specimen from (2). |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, another specimen from (2); lateral view of the anterior part with retracted trochal discs. Inside of the long rostrum, which shows a kink in the middle, a duct which might be connected to the subcerebral glands is recognizable (arrowheads). Another duct (or the same? ?nerves/ muscles?) is marked by asterisks. Br: brain; DA: dorsal antenna;MG: mastax ganglion; Mx: Mastax; Ro: rostrum. The white line approximately characterizes the plane of the optical dorsoventral section of the above image. |
| |
 |
| Rotaria socialis, lateral view of foot with spurs (Sp) and dorsal toe (DT) and ventral toes (VT) (2). Lac de Poulinoc; St. renan, Brittany, France |
|
| Location: Water reservoir Wuppertalsperre, NRW; Germany (1); "De Grote Put", Ekeren, Antwerp, Belgium (2); Lac de Poulinoc; St. Renan, Brittany, France (3) |
| Habitat: periphyton / mosses; together with Rotaria macrura(1); periphyton/ on rotten willow leaves (2) ; detritus (3) |
| Date: 15.09.2014(1); 24.02.2015 (2); |
|
|
