Convoluta convoluta

Convoluta convoluta
	C. convoluta with a coin 19 mm in diameter
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Xenacoelomorpha
Order:	Acoela
Family:	Convolutidae
Genus:	Convoluta
Species:	C. convoluta
Binomial name
	Convoluta convoluta; Peter Christian Abildgaard, 1806. In: O.F. Müller, Zoologia Danica, 4.
Synonyms
	List Convoluta albicincta; Schultze, 1851; Convoluta armata; Graff, 1874; Convoluta diesingii; Schmidt, 1852; Convoluta haustrum; Dalyell, 1853; Convoluta infundibulum; Schmidt, 1861; Convoluta johnstoni; Diesing, 1862; Convoluta paradoxa; Ørsted, 1843; Monotus albicinctus (Schultze, 1849); Monotus diesingi Schmidt, 1861; Monotus johnstoni Diesing, 1862 (nomen nudum); Monotus paradoxa; Claperede, 1861; Planaria convoluta; Abildgaard, 1806;

Convoluta convoluta is a small acoel in the family Convolutidae. Native to the Baltic Sea, it invaded the Gulf of Maine in the late 1990s.^[2]

Diet and symbiosis

This flatworm consumes juvenile settling mussels and harpacticoid copepods.^[3] It also engages in a symbiosis with a diatom of the genus Lichmophora,^[4] which has also invaded the Gulf of Maine.

Impact and ecology in the Gulf of Maine

In the Gulf of Maine, the impact of this species appears minimal as the habitat is presumably saturated with food, and the species is ultimately self-limited by species competition.^[5] It also appears limited to wave-protected habitats, where it prefers filamentous algae.^[5] In 2001, it occurred in densities of up to 19 per square centimeter.^[2]

References

^ http://turbellaria.umaine.edu/turb3.php?action=1&code=157
^ ^a ^b Rivest, Brian R.; Coyer, James; Tyler, Seth (1999). "The first known invasion of a free-living marine flatworm". Biological Invasions. 1 (4): 393–394. doi:10.1023/A:1010076418671. ISSN 1387-3547.
^ Mamkaev, Y.V., Seravin, L.N., 1963. Feeding habits of the acoelous turbellarian Convoluta convoluta (Abildgaard). Zoologicheskii Zurnal 42, 197–205
^ Apelt, G., 1969. Die Symbiose zwischen dem acoelen Turbellar Convoluta convoluta und Diatomeen der Gattung Lichmophora (In German). Marine Biology (Berlin) 3, 165–187
^ ^a ^b Byrnes, J.E. and Witman, J.D. 2003. Impact assessment of an invasive flatworm, Convoluta convoluta, in the Southern Gulf of Maine. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 203: 173–191

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[turbtaxa-1] ttp://turbellaria.umaine.edu/turb3.php?action=1&code=157

[Rivest-2] Rivest, Brian R.; Coyer, James; Tyler, Seth (1999). "The first known invasion of a free-living marine flatworm". Biological Invasions. 1 (4): 393–394. doi:10.1023/A:1010076418671. ISSN 1387-3547.

[3] Mamkaev, Y.V., Seravin, L.N., 1963. Feeding habits of the acoelous turbellarian Convoluta convoluta (Abildgaard). Zoologicheskii Zurnal 42, 197–205

[4] Apelt, G., 1969. Die Symbiose zwischen dem acoelen Turbellar Convoluta convoluta und Diatomeen der Gattung Lichmophora (In German). Marine Biology (Berlin) 3, 165–187

[Byrnes-5] Byrnes, J.E. and Witman, J.D. 2003. Impact assessment of an invasive flatworm, Convoluta convoluta, in the Southern Gulf of Maine. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 203: 173–191

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