A carnivorous bdelloid rotifer, Abrochtha carnivora n.sp. |
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Authors: | Claudia Ricci Giulio Melone Elizabeth J Walsh |
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Institution: | Dipartimento di Biologia, Universitàdi Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milano, Italy;Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA |
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Abstract: | Abstract. Here we describe a new bdelloid rotifer, Abrochtha carnivora n.sp., that preys on other bdelloids and monogonont rotifers. This is the first report of predatory behavior in bdelloids. Despite this extraordinary behavior, A. carnivora displays no major structural deviation from the standard body plan for members of the bdelloid family Philodinavidae: body with head (with ciliated corona), trunk, and foot, mastax with ramate trophi. The finding of such a carnivorous species, unique for the class, appears to contradict the common assumption that the wholly parthenogenetic bdelloids are evolutionary dead-ends. |
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Keywords: | Rotifera Bdelloidea Philodinavidae |
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