Symsagittifera roscoffensis
| Symsagittifera roscoffensis | |
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| Original painting by Ludwig von Graff | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Acoelomorpha |
| Class: | Acoela |
| Order: | Acoela |
| Family: | Sagittiferidae |
| Genus: | Symsagittifera |
| Species: | S. roscoffensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Symsagittifera roscoffensis (Graff, 1891) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Convoluta roscoffensis Graff, 1891 |
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Convoluta roscoffensis Graff, 1891
Symsagittifera roscoffensis, formerly called Convoluta roscoffensis, is a free-living acoelomorph worm.
S. roscoffensis is a small (about 15 mm long) flat worm. It assimilates the algae, Tetraselmis convolutae into its parenchymal cells, giving it a green colour. For this reason, its common name in the Channel Islands is the "mint sauce worm".
In its adult stage, the worm lives off the excesses of its symbiotic algae, although the mouth is still present posteriorly to the . The worm provides shelter and some nutritional benefits in return.
The worm can be found in shallow water on sheltered sand beaches along most of the Atlantic coast of Europe (including the coasts of Wales, Brittany, the North of Spain and Portugal).
The genus name was originally spelled Simsagittifera; Mamkaev & Kostenko corrected it in 1991 to Symsagittifera but Faubel et al. (2004) maintain that Simsagittifera should be retained. The species name comes from the French town where it was described, Roscoff, in Brittany.
S. roscoffensis is one of the model organisms for studying the development of bilaterians.
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Wikipedia