Rotifer
Phylum of pseudocoelomate invertebrates
Rotifer
The rotifers (, from Latin rota 'wheel' and -fer 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were possibly first described by Rev. John Harris in 1696, and other forms were described by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1703. Most rotifers are around 0.1–0.5 mm (0.0039–0.0197 in) long (although their size can range from 50 μm (0.0020 in) to over 2 mm (0.079 in)), and they are common in freshwater environments throughout the world with a few saltwater species. Some rotifers are free swimming and truly planktonic, others move by inchworming along a substrate, and some are sessile, living inside tubes or gelatinous holdfasts that are attached to a substrate. About 25 species are colonial (e.g., Sinantherina semibullata), either sessile or planktonic. Rotifers are an important part of the freshwater zooplankton, being a major foodsource and with many species also contributing to the...
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