220 



ROTIFERA 



CHAP. 



differs from the adult in the greater simplicity of its ciliary- 

 wreath ; and in the tubicolous forms the cupped end of the foot- 

 gland is ciliated, and two eyes are present on the polar area, 

 which later sink in, and often disappear more or less completely. 

 It is stated that the young hatched from winter eggs do not 

 pass through this larval state. 



Classification. 1 



Order I. Flosculariaceae. Females mostly tubicolous, at- 

 tached by a long contractile foot. Disc produced into a wide 

 funnel-shaped contractile cup, produced into lobes with long 

 setae (Floscularia) or coarse cilia (Stephanoceros), or entire (Ap- 

 silidae) ; an outer row of fine cilia rarely present ; trochus a 



Fig. 115. Stephanoceros eich- 

 liornii. (After Cubitt.) A, Dor- 

 sal view of the upper part in its 

 tube : al, lateral antenna ; e, 

 eye ; em, developing embryo in 

 uterus ; g, gizzard ; s.g, median 

 salivary gland. * B, Extremity 

 of foot. C, Lateral view of base 

 of disc : am, median antenna ; 

 of, oral funnel ; s.g, median 

 salivary gland ; tf, in the crop, 

 indicates the ciliated tube pro- 

 longing the funnel ; tr, horse- 

 shoe-shaped trochus. 



horseshoe, open behind. Oral funnel a slender tube hanging 

 freely into a large pharyngeal crop ; trophi uncinate projecting 

 freely into the crop. Kidneys often united by an anterior cross- 

 piece. Body-wall often containing a definite system of canals, 

 filled with refractive granules, and serving by their contraction to 



1 The classification we have adopted is a modification of that made by 

 Hudson and Gosse ; we have divided up their first Order Rhizota into two, and 

 split off from Flosculariidae the family Apsilidae ; removed the Asplanchnaceae 

 from the admittedly heterogeneous Order Ploima, made distinct families in the 

 Ploima for Microcodonidae and Rhinopidae, and created a third new Order for the 

 Seisonaceae. Ehrenberg, Gosse, and Hudson, being the authors of most of the 

 genera, are designated by their initials only. 



