Macrostomum
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''Macrostomum'' is a genus of
flatworm Platyhelminthes (from the Greek language, Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") is a Phylum (biology), phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, Segmentation (biology), ...
with a worldwide distribution, with over a hundred species described to date. These
hermaphroditic A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...
, free-living flatworms are usually small in size, with large species reaching up to 5 mm in body length (e.g. ''Macrostomum tuba''). They are usually transparent, and the smaller species appear rather round in cross-section than dorsoventrally flattened.


Name

The term "''Macrostomum''", meaning "big-mouthed", derives from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
μάκρος ''makros'', "large", and στόμα, ''stoma'', mouth. Relative to other
turbellaria The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from to large freshwater forms mo ...
, ''Macrostomum'' species have indeed a long mouth, connected to the gut by a muscular pharynx which can expand, in certain species, to almost the width of the animal.


Ecology

''Macrostomum'' species inhabit different aquatic or moist environments. Turbellaria database Marine and
brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
species are often interstitial (living in the space between grains of sediment), whereas
freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...
species are also frequently found associated with aquatic plants. Many of these small worms feed on unicellular
algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
such as
diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma'') is any member of a large group comprising several Genus, genera of algae, specifically microalgae, found in the oceans, waterways and soils of the world. Living diatoms make up a significant portion of Earth's B ...
s, others on
zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...
or smaller
benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...
invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...
.


Species

This genus includes ''
Macrostomum lignano ''Macrostomum lignano'' is a Wiktionary:free-living, free-living, hermaphroditic flatworm. It is transparent and of small size (adults reaching about 1.7 mm), and is part of the intertidal sand Meiobenthos, meiofauna of the Adriatic Sea. Ori ...
'', a new model organism for studies on different areas of biology, including development, bioadhesion, regeneration, stem cell biology, ageing, toxicology, genomics, and evolution. The following species are recognised in the genus ''Macrostomum'': *'' Macrostomum acus'' *'' Macrostomum acutum'' *'' Macrostomum aegyptium'' *'' Macrostomum amaniense'' *'' Macrostomum amurense'' *'' Macrostomum appendiculatum'' *'' Macrostomum astericis'' *'' Macrostomum auriculatum'' *'' Macrostomum australiense'' *'' Macrostomum axi'' *'' Macrostomum balticum'' *'' Macrostomum baoanensis'' *'' Macrostomum baringoense'' *'' Macrostomum bellebaruchae'' *'' Macrostomum bicaudatum'' *'' Macrostomum bicurvistyla'' *'' Macrostomum boreale'' *'' Macrostomum brandi'' *'' Macrostomum brevituba'' *'' Macrostomum burti'' *'' Macrostomum cairoense'' *'' Macrostomum calcaris'' *'' Macrostomum caprariae'' *'' Macrostomum carolinense'' *'' Macrostomum catarractae'' *'' Macrostomum ceylanicum'' *'' Macrostomum chongqingensis'' *'' Macrostomum christinae'' *'' Macrostomum clavistylum'' *'' Macrostomum clavituba'' *'' Macrostomum cliftonensis'' *'' Macrostomum collistylum'' *'' Macrostomum contortum'' *'' Macrostomum coomerensis'' *'' Macrostomum coxi'' *'' Macrostomum crassum'' *'' Macrostomum curvata'' *'' Macrostomum curvistylum'' *'' Macrostomum curvituba'' *'' Macrostomum delphax'' *'' Macrostomum deltanensis'' *'' Macrostomum distinguendum'' *'' Macrostomum dongyuanensis'' *'' Macrostomum dorsiforum'' *'' Macrostomum elgonense'' *'' Macrostomum ensiferum'' *'' Macrostomum ermini'' *'' Macrostomum evelinae'' *'' Macrostomum extraculum'' *'' Macrostomum fergussoni'' *'' Macrostomum finnlandense'' *'' Macrostomum flexum'' *'' Macrostomum frigorophilum'' *'' Macrostomum gallicum'' *'' Macrostomum galloprovinciale'' *'' Macrostomum georgeense'' *'' Macrostomum gilberti'' *'' Macrostomum glochistylum'' *'' Macrostomum goharii'' *'' Macrostomum gracile'' *'' Macrostomum gracilistylum'' *'' Macrostomum graffi'' *'' Macrostomum granulophorum'' *'' Macrostomum greenwoodi'' *'' Macrostomum guttulatum'' *'' Macrostomum hamatum'' *'' Macrostomum heyuanensis'' *'' Macrostomum hofsteni'' *'' Macrostomum hystricinum'' *'' Macrostomum hystrix'' *'' Macrostomum ideficis'' *'' Macrostomum incurvatum'' *'' Macrostomum inductum'' *'' Macrostomum inflatum'' *'' Macrostomum infundibuliferum'' *'' Macrostomum intermedium'' *'' Macrostomum ismailiensis'' *'' Macrostomum janickei'' *'' Macrostomum japonicum'' *'' Macrostomum johni'' *'' Macrostomum karlingi'' *'' Macrostomum kepneri'' *'' Macrostomum korsakovi'' *'' Macrostomum lankouensis'' *'' Macrostomum leptos'' *'' Macrostomum lewisi'' *''
Macrostomum lignano ''Macrostomum lignano'' is a Wiktionary:free-living, free-living, hermaphroditic flatworm. It is transparent and of small size (adults reaching about 1.7 mm), and is part of the intertidal sand Meiobenthos, meiofauna of the Adriatic Sea. Ori ...
'' *'' Macrostomum lineare'' *'' Macrostomum littorale'' *'' Macrostomum longispermatum'' *'' Macrostomum longistyliferum'' *'' Macrostomum longituba'' *'' Macrostomum lutheri'' *'' Macrostomum magnacurvituba'' *'' Macrostomum majesticis'' *'' Macrostomum mediterraneum'' *'' Macrostomum megalogastricum'' *'' Macrostomum minutum'' *'' Macrostomum mirumnovem'' *'' Macrostomum mosquense'' *'' Macrostomum mystrophorum'' *'' Macrostomum nairobiense'' *'' Macrostomum nassonovi'' *'' Macrostomum niloticum'' *'' Macrostomum norfolkensis'' *'' Macrostomum obelicis'' *'' Macrostomum obtusa'' *'' Macrostomum obtusum'' *'' Macrostomum ontarioense'' *'' Macrostomum orthostylum'' *'' Macrostomum parmum'' *'' Macrostomum pellitum'' *'' Macrostomum phillipsi'' *'' Macrostomum phocurum'' *'' Macrostomum pithecusae'' *'' Macrostomum platensis'' *'' Macrostomum poznaniense'' *'' Macrostomum prognosticis'' *'' Macrostomum pseudoobscurum'' *'' Macrostomum pseudosinense'' *'' Macrostomum puntapiedrensis'' *'' Macrostomum purpureum'' *'' Macrostomum qiaochengensis'' *'' Macrostomum quiritium'' *'' Macrostomum rectum'' *'' Macrostomum recurvostylum'' *'' Macrostomum retortum'' *'' Macrostomum reynoldsi'' *'' Macrostomum reynoldsoni'' *'' Macrostomum rhabdophorum'' *'' Macrostomum riedeli'' *'' Macrostomum romanicum'' *'' Macrostomum rostratum'' *'' Macrostomum ruebushi'' *'' Macrostomum saifunicum'' *'' Macrostomum salemensis'' *'' Macrostomum schareri'' *'' Macrostomum schmitti'' *'' Macrostomum semicirculatum'' *'' Macrostomum sensitivum'' *'' Macrostomum shekouense'' *'' Macrostomum shenandoahense'' *'' Macrostomum shenzhenensis'' *'' Macrostomum shiyanensis'' *'' Macrostomum silesiacum'' *'' Macrostomum sinensis'' *'' Macrostomum sinyaense'' *'' Macrostomum spirale'' *'' Macrostomum stepposus'' *'' Macrostomum stylopensillum'' *'' Macrostomum subterraneum'' *'' Macrostomum taurinum'' *'' Macrostomum tennesseense'' *'' Macrostomum tenuicauda'' *'' Macrostomum thermale'' *'' Macrostomum thingithuense'' *'' Macrostomum timavi'' *'' Macrostomum troubadicus'' *'' Macrostomum truncatum'' *'' Macrostomum tuba'' *'' Macrostomum uncinatum'' *'' Macrostomum vejdovskyi'' *'' Macrostomum velastylum'' *'' Macrostomum virginianum'' *'' Macrostomum viride'' *'' Macrostomum xiamensis'' *'' Macrostomum zhaoqingensis'' *'' Macrostomum zhujiangensis''


References


External links


Turbellarian Taxonomic Database

Macrostomum Genome Site


at the
University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis''; German: ''Universität Basel'') is a public research university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest univ ...
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3388591 Turbellaria genera Taxa named by Eduard Oscar Schmidt Rhabditophora genera