Baer, 1827
Type species Chaeogaster limnaei Baer, 1827
Number of species 17. Six species known from NWE:
Chaetogaster cristallinus Vejdovsky, 1884a
Chaetogaster diaphanus (Gruithuisen, 1828)
Chaetogaster diastrophus (Gruithuisen, 1828)
Chaetogaster langi Bretscher, 1896
Chaetogaster limnaei Baer, 1827
Chaetogaster setosus Svetlov, 1925
Description
The first five segments fused forming head containing muscular pharynx and having chaetae only in II. Prostomium usually reduced. Dorsal chaetae completely lacking (except in one species having sometimes vestigial dorsal chaetae beginning from VI). Male pores with penial chaetae in VI.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan.
Ecology
Predatory, or feeding on unicellular algae; one subspecies parasitizing on snails.
Reproduction
Mostly asexual, by paratomy (budding). Five anterior segments developing in the budding zone. Maturing and sexual reproduction rare or seasonal.
Literature
Gruithuisen, 1828: 409-420; Baer, 1827: 611-615; Sperber, 1948: 58-59; Brinkhurst and Jamieson, 1971: 306-307; Chekanovskaya, 1981: 254-256; Hrabe, 1981: 31-32; Kasprzak, 1981: 92.