GASTROTRICHA - Biology, ecology and systematics

"The phylum Gastrotricha (gastrotrichs, in current English usage) includes about 780 freeliving species of worm-like, actively moving microinvertebrates that represent an important component of the meiobenthic fauna of marine, brackish-water and freshwater habitats. .Gastrotricha form a small group, yet they play an important ecological role in inland water environments since they are part of the microphagous, detritivorus benthic community and thus, they link the microbial loop to the higher trophic levels (Balsamo & Todaro 2002). Current knowledge of the ecological role of Gastrotricha in the benthic food webs is still scanty, probably because of the technical difficulties implied in the study of these microinvertebrates and also of the weak applied interest in their research."