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| Macrostomum Temporal range: No fossils known
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| Macrostomum lignano | |
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| Genus: | Macrostomum Schmidt, 1848
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Macrostomum [1] is a genus of Platyhelminthes with worldwide distribution[2][3], with over a hundred species described [2]. These hermaphroditic, free-living flatworms are small in size, with large species reaching only about 5 mm (e.g. Macrostomum tuba). They are usually transparent, and the smaller species appear rather round than flat.
Name
editThe term "Macrostomum", meaning "big-mouthed", derives from the greek words μάκρος makros, "large", and στόμα, stoma, mouth. Relative to other turbellaria, Macrostomum species have indeed a long mouth, connected to the gut by a muscular pharynx which can expand, in certain species, to almost the width of the animal.
Ecology
editMacrostomum species inhabit different aquatic or moist environments[2][3]. Marine and brackish species are often interstitial (living in the space between grains of sediment), whereas freshwater species are also frequently found associated with aquatic plants. Many of these small worms feed on unicellular algae such as diatoms, others on zooplankton or smaller benthic invertebrates[3].
Species
editThis genus includes Macrostomum lignano[4], a new model organism for studies on different areas of biology, including development, regeneration, stem cell biology, ageing, toxicology, genomics, and evolution[5]
References
edit- ^ Schmidt, Eduard Oscar (1848), Die rhabdocoelen Strudelwürmer (Turbellaria Rhabddocoela) des süssen Wassers, Jena: Friedrich Mauke
- ^ a b c http://devbio.umesci.maine.edu/styler/turbellaria/turb2.php?action=1&code=2777 Turbellaria database
- ^ a b c http://macrostomorpha.info/
- ^
Ladurner, Peter; Schärer, Lukas; Salvenmoser, Willi; Rieger, Reinhard (2005), "A new model organism among the lower Bilateria and the use of digital microscopy in taxonomy of meiobenthic Platyhelminthes: Macrostomum lignano, n. sp. (Rhabditophora, Macrostomorpha)", Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 43 (2): 114–126, doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2005.00299.114–126
{{citation}}: Check|doi=value (help); line feed character in|title=at position 84 (help) - ^ http://www.macrostomum.net/
External links
edit- Turbellaria database
- www.macrostomum.net
- Evolutionary Research on Macrostomum species at the University of Basel