Convoluta convoluta
| Convoluta convoluta | |
|---|---|
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| C. convoluta with a coin 19 mm in diameter | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Xenacoelomorpha |
| Order: | Acoela |
| Family: | Convolutidae |
| Genus: | Convoluta |
| Species: | C. convoluta
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| Binomial name | |
| Convoluta convoluta Peter Christian Abildgaard, 1806. In: O.F. Müller, Zoologia Danica, 4.
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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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[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
- ^ "Convoluta". Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
- ^ Convoluta convoluta (Abildgaard, 1806). gbif.org. Accessed 2023-06-06.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Mamkaev, Y.V., Seravin, L.N., 1963. Feeding habits of the acoelous turbellarian Convoluta convoluta (Abildgaard). Zoologicheskii Zurnal 42, 197–205
- ^ Apelt, G., 1969. Die Symbiose zwischen dem acoelen Turbellar Convoluta convoluta und Diatomeen der Gattung Lichmophora (In German). Marine Biology (Berlin) 3, 165–187
- ^ 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