Bdelloidea
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Adinetidae |
Bdelloidea is a class of rotifers found in fresh water and moist soil. Bdelloids (pronounced with a mouthed and almost silent B rather like "deltoids" with a silent 't') typically have a well developed corona, divided into two parts, on a retractable head. They may move by swimming or crawling. The latter commonly involves taking alternate steps with the head and tail, as do certain leeches, which gives the group their name (Greek βδελλα or bdella, meaning leech).
Bdelloids have been of interest to those interested in the evolutionary role of sexual reproduction, because it has disappeared entirely from the group: males are unknown, and females reproduce exclusively by parthenogenesis. Each individual has paired gonads. Despite the fact that they have been asexual for millions of years, they have diversified into more than 300 species and are fairly similar to other sexually-reproducting rotifer species.
Bdelloids respond to environmental stresses by entering a state of dormancy known as anhydrobiosis. This dormancy form enables the organism to rapidly dehydrate itself. The Bdelloid will remain in this cysted state until optimal environmental conditions re-occur at which point they will rehydrate and become active within hours. Diapause is the ability of the organism to produce offspring in a dormant and unhatched state. Hatching of the young will only occur when conditions are at their most favourable. These forms of dormancy are also known as cryptobiosis or quiescence.
