Cave vortex worm
| Cave vortex worm | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dendrocoelum nekoum | ||||||||||||
| Sluys , 2012 |
The cave vortex worm ( Dendrocoelum nekoum ) is an approximately 14 mm long and 4 mm wide vortex worm in central Switzerland . The worms are as real cave animals snow white or clear and were 2009 in Ried Schwand cave in the Small Melchtal in Obwalden discovered and previously detected only in this cave.
features
In the Riedschwand Cave it was possible to record on video how the cave vortex worm, as a predator , catches and eats another aquatic animal on the surface of the water. The eyeless cave vortex worm tracks down the prey with special olfactory organs, envelops it with tough mucus from the rhabdites and finally dissolves it with a digestive secretion. The animals are hermaphrodites ( hermaphroditic ), i. H. an individual has both sexes. When mating, they fertilize each other. The eggs are laid in cocoons . The cave vortex worm, like all vortex worms, has a high regenerative capacity and can regenerate completely even if it is broken up many times.
literature
- Ronald Sluys: A new, sibling species of cave flatworm from Switzerland (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dendrocoelidae) , Revue suisse de zoologie (Swiss Journal of Zoology), 119 (2), June 2012, pp. 181–188. PDF
Individual evidence
- ↑ Obwalden cave explorers discover new animal species , article from Central Switzerland on Sunday August 5, 2012
- ↑ Dendrocoelum nekoum: Discovery of a globally unknown cave animal species , article from June 1, 2012 on the website of the “Natural Heritage Karst and Caves Obwalden” (NeKO) foundation, accessed on April 15, 2018
Web links
- TV report about the cave strudelwurm in the Riedschwand cave , article from October 9, 2012 on the website of the “Natural Heritage Karst and Caves Obwalden” (NeKO) foundation, accessed on April 15, 2018