#gastrotricha

[bestanimal]

Round 1 - Phylum Gastrotricha

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

The Phylum Gastrotricha, animals commonly referred to as hairybellies or hairybacks, are a group of microscopic, cylindrical animals.

They are widely distributed and abundant in both freshwater and marine environments, though some species can be found on land living in the film of water surrounding grains of soil. Though simple, they have a head region, with a brain and sensory organs, and a trunk with a simple gut and reproductive organs. They anchor themselves to the substrate via adhesive glands and use cilia (said “hair”) to move around. They feed on detritus and have a lifespan of just a few days. Nearly 800 species of gastrotrich have been described.

How do you feel about this phylum?

One or more of my favorite animals is in this phylum

I love one or more of these animals

I like one or more of these animals

I am neutral about all of these animals

I dislike all of these animals

I hate all of these animals

Voting ended onSep 11, 2024

Propaganda under the cut:

Fertilized eggs leave their parents by bursting out through the skin, which then repairs itself. Pretty metal tbh

Some species are capable of laying eggs that remain dormant during times when the young would be unlikely to survive, but are also capable of laying normal eggs in times of plenty.

Baby gastrotrichs just look like miniature adults (or, miniature miniature adults), and reach sexual maturity in about three days.

One species has lived up to 40 days in a lab, producing 4-5 eggs during the first 10 days of its life.

Basically a whole phylum dedicated to living fast and dying young

Idk they’re kinda cute

[animalshowdown]

Phylum Round 1

🦠 LORICIFERA vs. GASTROTRICHA 🦠

Loricifera

Gastrotricha

Voting ended onJan 28, 2024

Loricifera: Microscopic animals with a hard shell and a head surrounded by elongated spines. All animals in this phylum are "meiofauna", meaning they live in the spaces between grains of sediment on the seafloor. They are distinguished by the "lorica", the hard casing surrounding most of their bodies, which can sometimes take on a corset-like appearance. Loriciferans were only recently discovered - they can attach themselves extremely well to grains of sand, which made them very difficult to find. Interestingly, some of these animals have a unique high tolerance for zero-oxygen conditions, which they owe to specialized organelles in their cells called "hydrogenosomes" which have replaced mitochondria.

Gastrotricha: Hairy-Backed or Hairy-Bellied Worms. These freshwater and marine meiofauna are found in the "periphyton", the layer of detritus on the seafloor surface. They have two little foot-like appendages which have specialized glands that help cement them to the sand particles in their natural environment. They can be found all over the world, and are the third most common invertebrate animal found in marine sediments. Like Loricifera, they have a high tolerance for low-oxygen conditions, and they can withstand the presence of caustic hydrogen sulfide. These animals are of interest for studying the biomechanics of movement through difficult underground terrain.

[parakaryote]

(REUPLOAD BECAUSE I PUT THE (WRONG) ORIGINAL VERSION I MADE OF THE CYCLIOPHORA PICTURE AND COULDN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX IT)

A collection of drawings I did for InverteFest (an invertebrate-celebrating event on Twitter that went from April 28 to May 2). I decided to focus on the smaller phyla.

Explanations for some of them:

Ctenophora: Wikipedia has a picture of a Beroe ctenophore swimming with an open mouth, and it reminded me of a whale.

Cycliophora: Their reproductive cycle is surprisingly complicated and looking at a diagram confused me, so I decided to make a joke about that.

Gastrotricha: Referring to their eutely (how every adult member of the same gastrotrich species has the exact same number of cells in its body).

[Image Description: A collection of six digital drawings depicting animals from small phyla.

Picture 1: A Lingula anatina brachiopod.

Picture 2: A Sagitta chaetognath chasing a copepod. The copepod is slightly anthropomorphized, being drawn with a pupil in its eye which is looking back at the chaetognath with fear.

Picture 3: A beroid ctenophore with a gaping mouth. It has a thought bubble with a picture of a baleen whale’s jaw inside it.

Picture 4: A sexless Symbion pandora clinging to a lobster’s mouthparts. It is using the male individual stuck to it as a hand, holding a book titled Pandora, Prometheus: Cycliophoran Reproduction For Dummies. It has a thought bubble with the words “The other phyla will surely understand now!”

Picture 5: An entoproct. The drawing only shows the upper “cup” part of its body.

Picture 6: A blue gastrotrich on a purple background. Text reads: “Gastrotricha: A eutelic phylum. Very mathematically precise!”

End ID.]

[amateurplant]

Not plants but I wanted to try posting something different! I spend a lot of time behind a microscope (both at school and at home), here’s a rotifer and a gastrotrich I found recently in some old aquarium water I got from a friend.

[terriblebicho]

Okay but seriously Gastrotricha look so cool. They're like funky little cartoon dudes with tiny lil feet. I want to see one IRL on the microscope.

Every time I see a pic or video of them I think of the "You're a sad, strange little man" Toy Story line but without the "and you have my pity.", they have my fascination.

[terriblebicho]

awful little man

[chimeride]

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Lepidodermella squamata

...is a freshwater species of Gastrotrich (A minor phylum of microscopic marine  and freshwater worm like invertebrates, commonly known as "hairybacks") which occurs in North America, South America, Japan, and much of Europe. L. squamata is typically found along the surface of water plants in lakes, ponds, streams, and marshes. L. squamata will feed on a range of detritus, bacteria, and algae, gliding across the substrate via the cilia on its ventral surface. 

Classification

Animalia-Gastrotricha-Chaetonotida-Chaetonotidae-Lepidodermella-L. squamata

Image: Guiseppe Vago