Rotifera

Also known as the wheel animals, rotifers

The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals.

AI overview

Rotifers are tiny animals so small you need a microscope to see them, and they're named "wheel animals" because they have rotating structures around their mouths that look like spinning wheels. They represent their own distinct group (phylum) in the animal kingdom and are found in many aquatic and semi-aquatic environments around the world.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Species

Rotifer

Rotifera

PHYLUM

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumRotifera

Habitatmarine, brackish, freshwater

Observations recorded398,710

轮形动物门（學名：Rotifera），又稱輪蟲動物門，是动物界的一个门。是主要生活在淡水中的小型动物，约有1800种左右。轮形动物在假体腔动物中是相当繁盛的一类。身体短圆，有明亮的壳，两侧对称，身体的后端多数有尾状部；前端有一纤毛盘，具有运动功能；纤毛摆动时状如旋转的轮盘，所以得名；咽内具有咀嚼器，无真体腔。

via GBIF

Research

1,544 papers

Ice-inhabiting species of Bdelloidea Rotifera reveal a pre-Quaternary ancestry in the Arctic cryosphere.Biology letters · 2024Shain DH, Rogozhina I, Fontaneto D et al.DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2023.0546
Micrognathozoa: a new class with complicated jaws like those of Rotifera and Gnathostomulida.ReviewJournal of morphology · 2000Kristensen RM, Funch PDOI: 10.1002/1097-4687(200010)246:1<1::AID-JMOR1>3.0.CO;2-D
m6A-mediated nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway regulates senescence in Brachionus plicatilis (Rotifera).Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2023Zhang Y, Zhou Y, Kan D et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.archger.2023.104994
Metformin and Dietary Restriction Counteract Aging via Reducing m6A-Dependent Stabilization of Methionine Synthase mRNA in Brachionus asplanchnoidis (Rotifera).Aging cell · 2025Zhang Y, Liu X, Lian H et al.DOI: 10.1111/acel.70113
A checklist of epibiont and parasite ciliates (Ciliophora) associated to rotifers (Rotifera).Zootaxa · 2023Chatterjee T, Dovgal I, Fontaneto D et al.DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5389.3.5
Ultrastructure of the extraordinary pedal gland in Asplanchna aff. herricki (Rotifera: Monogononta).Journal of morphology · 2024Hochberg R, Wallace RL, Walsh EJ et al.DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21765
Efficient RNA interference method by feeding in Brachionus plicatilis (Rotifera).Biotechnology letters · 2024Zhang Y, Kan D, Zhou Y et al.DOI: 10.1007/s10529-024-03524-w
A numerical simulation for the dynamics of the sexual phase of monogonont rotifera.ReviewComptes rendus biologies · 2004Angulo O, López-Marcos JC, López-Marcos MADOI: 10.1016/j.crvi.2003.08.006

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Rotifer.jpg

Show 3 more facts

Commons category: Rotifera
taxon name: Rotifera
taxon common name: kotačniki

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~21 min read

Article

18 sections

Contents

Taxonomy and naming
Etymology
Anatomy
Nervous system
Retrocerebral organ
Retrocerebral organ secretions
Digestive system
Biology
Feeding
Reproduction and life cycle
Loss of sexual reproduction system
Resting eggs
Anhydrobiosis
Predators
Genome size
Gallery
References
External links

The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals.

They were first described by Rev. John Harris in 1696, and other forms were described by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1703. Most rotifers are around long (although their size can range from to over ), and are common in freshwater environments throughout the world with a few saltwater species.