Rotifers 



179 



rangular black eyespot in the center of the body 

 appears the food communicating apparatus (mastax), 

 below which lie ovaries and alimentary canal. Any 

 or all the external parts may be wanting in certain 





FIG. 87. A rotifer (Brachionus cntzii) in dorsal and ven- 

 tral views. (After France). 



rotifers. The smaller and simpler forms superficially 

 resemble ciliate infusoria, but the complex organization 

 shown by the microscope will at once distinguish them. 

 Rotifers eat micro-organisms smaller than them- 

 selves. They reproduce by means of eggs, often 

 parthenogenetically. The males in all species are 

 smaller than the females and for some species males 

 are not known. 



