''Wulguru cuspidata'' is a microscopic

acoel Acoela, or the acoels, is an order of small and simple invertebrates in the subphylum Acoelomorpha of phylum Xenacoelomorpha, a deep branching bilaterian group of animals, which resemble flatworms. Historically they were treated as an order of ...

species that lives in the sandy beaches of northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

(Australia). It is the second species of Australian free-living acoel to be described (the first is '' Heterochaerus australis''). Its generic name ''Wulguru'' is derived from

Wulgurukaba The Manbarra, otherwise known as the Wulgurukaba, are Aboriginal Australian people, and the traditional custodians of the Palm Islands, Magnetic Island, and an area of mainland Queensland to the west of Townsville. The Manbarra people were forc ...

, an Indigenous Australian people from Queensland, and the specific epithet is derived from (Latin: point, tip), alluding to the characteristic single pointed tail of this animal.

Characteristics

''Wulguru cuspidata'' individuals are colored green due to the presence of zoochlorellae of the order

Chlamydomonadales Chlamydomonadales, also known as Volvocales, are an order of flagellated or pseudociliated green algae, specifically of the Chlorophyceae.See the NCBIbr>webpage on Chlamydomonadales Data extracted from the Chlamydomonadales can form planar o ...

. When hatched, juveniles of this species are colorless but they quickly turn green as

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

microalgae enter their bodies. The body is less than 2 mm in length, oblong in shape, and with a distinct, pointed, nipple-like tail. The surface of the body is entirely covered with

cilia The cilium (: cilia; ; in Medieval Latin and in anatomy, ''cilium'') is a short hair-like membrane protrusion from many types of eukaryotic cell. (Cilia are absent in bacteria and archaea.) The cilium has the shape of a slender threadlike proj ...

, while along the body margins there are longer sensory cilia. The mouth is mid-ventral, although it is not known whether they are able to feed independently or gain nourishment solely from the symbiotic algae. Like many other acoel species, ''Wulguru cuspidata'' is a

hermaphrodite 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 ...

Ecology

''Wulguru cuspidata'' lives in

intertidal zone The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various ...

s of open sandy beaches in northern Queensland (Australia). Thousands, or even millions, of individuals aggregate in small, water-filled runnels created by waves. They are known to be able to tolerate extremes of temperature, high levels of sunlight, prolonged periods of shading (due to annual decomposition of seaweeds in the dry season), low oxygen levels, and cyanobacterial blooms.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2536399 Convolutidae