(No common name)

FAMILY

Rhopaluridae

TAXONOMY

Rhopalura ophiocomae Giard, 1877, Wimereux, France.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

None known.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Reaches length of 0.01 in (260 µm) in females, 0.005 in (130 µm) in males. This genus is characterized by sexual dimorphism, the demarcation of the body into regions being much sharper in males than in females. Males possess conspicuous crystalline inclusions in some epidermal cells. In females, the numerous oocytes form a compact mass that occupies most of the body; in males, the sperm mass is located in the middle third of the body.

DISTRIBUTION

Widely distributed. The usual host species, Amphipholis squamata, occurs off the coasts of France, Great Britain, and Italy, and Washington and California in the United States.

HABITAT

The perivisceral coelom are closely associated with the walls of the genital bursae or the gut of a parasitized brittle star.

BEHAVIOR

Generally swims by a spiraling motion.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

May absorb nutrients in the host cytoplasm.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

In males, the genital pore is located between epidermal rings 12 and 14; in females, in ring 19. The male and female may bring their genital pores together long enough for sperm transfer to be effected.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not listed by the IUCN.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.