Kingdom Animalia Family Sagittiferidae Phylum Acoelomorpha Order Acoela | Class Acoela Genus Symsagittifera Rank Species | |
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Scientific name Symsagittifera roscoffensis Similar Acoelomorpha, Acoela, Convoluta convoluta, Xenacoelomorpha, Nemertodermatida | ||
Symsagittifera roscoffensis 01
Symsagittifera roscoffensis, formerly called Convoluta roscoffensis, is a free-living acoelomorph worm.
Contents
- Symsagittifera roscoffensis 01
- Symsagittifera roscoffensis
- Appearance
- Ecology and distribution
- Name
- Significance to humans
- References
Symsagittifera roscoffensis
Appearance
S. roscoffensis is a small (about 15 mm long) flat worm. It assimilates the algae, Tetraselmis convolutae into its parenchymal cells, giving it a green colour. For this reason, its common name in the Channel Islands is the "mint sauce worm".
Ecology and distribution
In its adult stage, the worm lives off the excesses of its symbiotic algae, although the mouth is still present posteriorly to the statocyst. The worm provides shelter and some nutritional benefits in return.
The worm can be found in shallow water on sheltered sand beaches along most of the Atlantic Coast (including the coasts of Wales, Brittany, the North of Spain and Portugal).
Name
The genus name was originally spelled Simsagittifera; Mamkaev & Kostenko corrected it in 1991 to Symsagittifera but Faubel et al. (2004) maintain that Simsagittifera should be retained. The species name comes from the French town where it was described, Roscoff, in Brittany.
Significance to humans
S. roscoffensis is one of the model organisms for studying the development of bilaterians.