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Convoluta convoluta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Convoluta convoluta
C. convoluta with a coin 19 mm in diameter
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Xenacoelomorpha
Order: Acoela
Family: Convolutidae
Genus: Convoluta
Species:
C. convoluta
Binomial name
Convoluta convoluta
Peter Christian Abildgaard, 1806. In: O.F. Müller, Zoologia Danica, 4.
Synonyms[1]
List
  • Convoluta albicincta
    Schultze, 1851
  • Convoluta armata
    Graff, 1874
  • Convoluta diesingii
    Schmidt, 1852
  • Convoluta haustrum
    Dalyell, 1853
  • Convoluta infundibulum
    Schmidt, 1861
  • Convoluta johnstoni
    Diesing, 1862
  • Convoluta paradoxa
    Ørsted, 1843
  • Monotus albicinctus (Schultze, 1849)
  • Monotus diesingi Schmidt, 1861
  • Monotus johnstoni Diesing, 1862 (nomen nudum)
  • Monotus paradoxa
    Claperede, 1861
  • Planaria convoluta
    Abildgaard, 1806

Convoluta convoluta, also known as the acoellous turbellarian flatworm,[2] is a small acoel in the family Convolutidae. Native to the Baltic Sea, it invaded the Gulf of Maine in the late 1990s.[3]

Diet and symbiosis

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This flatworm consumes juvenile settling mussels and harpacticoid copepods.[4] It also engages in a symbiosis with a diatom of the genus Lichmophora,[5] which has also invaded the Gulf of Maine.

Impact and ecology in the Gulf of Maine

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In the Gulf of Maine, the impact of this species appears minimal as the habitat is presumably saturated with food, and the species is ultimately self-limited by species competition.[6] It also appears limited to wave-protected habitats, where it prefers filamentous algae.[6] In 2001, it occurred in densities of up to 19 per square centimeter.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Convoluta". Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
  2. ^ Convoluta convoluta (Abildgaard, 1806). gbif.org. Accessed 2023-06-06.
  3. ^ a b Rivest, Brian R.; Coyer, James; Tyler, Seth (1999). "The first known invasion of a free-living marine flatworm". Biological Invasions. 1 (4): 393–394. doi:10.1023/A:1010076418671. ISSN 1387-3547. S2CID 27245804.
  4. ^ Mamkaev, Y.V., Seravin, L.N., 1963. Feeding habits of the acoelous turbellarian Convoluta convoluta (Abildgaard). Zoologicheskii Zurnal 42, 197–205
  5. ^ Apelt, G., 1969. Die Symbiose zwischen dem acoelen Turbellar Convoluta convoluta und Diatomeen der Gattung Lichmophora (In German). Marine Biology (Berlin) 3, 165–187
  6. ^ a b Byrnes, J.E. and Witman, J.D. 2003. Impact assessment of an invasive flatworm, Convoluta convoluta, in the Southern Gulf of Maine. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 203: 173–191