(Walton, 1906)
Description
Small transparent worms. No proboscis, no eyes. Dorsal chaetae begin from II.
In dorsal bundles 1 smooth hair chaeta, 80-145 µm long, and 1 needle chaeta, 30-50 µm long, with equally short diverging teeth. In ventral bundles 3-5 bifid chaetae anteriorly, 2-3 posteriorly; they are 30-40 µm long decreasing in length backwards. In II ventral chaetae finer than the rest, with longer upper tooth nodulus proximal and; behind II nodulus distal, and teeth attaining gradually equal length. Stomach beginning abruptly from VII or VIII. Length 1.6-2 mm, segment number in the first zooid 12, in the entire worm 15-16. Can be distinguished from Pristinella bilobata and Pristinella notopora, having also equal teeth in needle chaetae, in its smooth hair chaetae.
Crawling on substratum.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan.
Ecology
In freshwater.
Reproduction
Mostly asexual, by paratomy (budding). Mature individuals and sexual reproduction rare or seasonal.
Literature
Walton, 1906: 703-704, Fig. 12; Stephenson, 1914: 327-330, Figs 3-5; Sperber, 1948: 222-223; Brinkhurst and Jamieson, 1971: 395, Fig. 7.22N-P.