A Virtual Pond Dip

Note: If visiting this page directly, it is designed to be used with the virtual dip in the jar of pond water.

Rotifers  (multicellular) Examples of genera left to right below: Philodina, Collotheca, Brachionus     Further details: Smallest page on the web - rotifers

Name (phylum): Rotifers Size : Wide range amongst species 25 µm - 1 mm Where to find them : Some species are planktonic, others are attached to plants, other organisms, stones or creeping on plants, mud surface etc. Notes : A particularly fascinating group for the pond dipper with a microscope. Older books call them wheel animalcules. The head has a crown of cilia (the 'wheel organ'), which in some species looks as if it is rotating like a wheel, hence their common name. Rotifer species show a wonderful variety of forms. Some move and contract like a leech (e.g. Philodina far left), others build 'houses'. Classification : Kingdom - Animalia, Phylum - Rotifera Return to the Pond Dip