''Synchaeta'' is a genus of
rotifers
The rotifers (, from Latin 'wheel' and 'bearing'), sometimes called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals.
They were first described by Rev. John Harris ...
belonging to the family
Synchaetidae
Synchaetidae is a family of rotifers belonging to the order Ploima
Ploima is an order of rotifers, microscopic invertebrates found in marine and freshwater habitats.
Families
According to the World Register of Marine Species, Ploima includes ...
.
The genus has a
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...
.
It is found in freshwater, marine, brackish, and inland saline habitats.
These microscopic organisms play essential roles in aquatic food webs and
nutrient cycling
A nutrient cycle (or ecological recycling) is the movement and exchange of inorganic and organic matter back into the production of matter. Energy flow is a unidirectional and noncyclic pathway, whereas the movement of mineral nutrients is cyc ...
.
Species
Species:
*''
Synchaeta arcifera''
*''
Synchaeta atlantica''
*''
Synchaeta bacillifera''
*''
Synchaeta pectinata''
References
Ploima
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