''Paradasys subterraneus'' is a Gastrotricha with a bodylength up to 0.6 mm. The species is marine.

Morphology

Gastrotricha are microscopic animals ranging from 0.06-3.0 mm in body length. ''Paradasys subterraneus'' has a bodylength up to 0.6 mm (Karling 1954).

Ecology

Gastrotricha are aquatic free-living worms, belonging to the

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". ...

meiofauna. They have a high density in marine sediments and are often among top three of meiofauna found here, only surpassed by nematoda and harpacticoid Copepoda. The density of Gastrotrica can be as high as 364 individuals/10 cm2. Distribution of ''Paradasys subterraneus'': British Isles, East North Atlantic, European waters (

ERMS The Erms () is a river of the karstified Swabian Alb range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It flows into the Neckar in Neckartenzlingen. On its way from the Karst spring to the next large municipality Bad Urach, a former Erms sedimented, especia ...

scope), Mediterranean Sea, Polish

Exclusive Economic Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

, United Kingdom Economic Zone, Wimereux

Systematics

The phylogenetic relationships of the Gastrotricha are still unclear: Morphological studies place Gastrostricha near the Gnathostomulida, the Rotifera, or the Nematoda. Molecular data have shown that the Gastrotricha are sister taxon to the Platyhelminthes. Later studies have placed them elsewhere, including close to the Ecdysozoa or the Lophotrochozoa.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2212714 Gastrotricha Animals described in 1934