User:Fred&Humle&Karo

Thaumastoderma heideri (Greek; Thauma: a wonder, Derma: skin) belongs to the phylumGastrotricha and the order Macrodasyida, which are worm shaped, mainly marinespecies of meiofauna. They live in coarser sand and like the rest of theGastrotrichs their movement is very slow. The family Thaumastodermatidaeincludes more than 130 species and it can be found widely across the globe. ==Morphology==Thaumastoderma is 160-190μm in length. The body shape looks like that of a normal Gastrotrichs(wormlike) and and is characteristic by its hairybody.The head region can be recognized by a lateral constriction ofthe body. The head bears three tentacles on each side. Two of them are spoonshaped; the third wider than the second. The body is covered with scales. Protrudingfrom these is pointy cirrus which occurs in the same pattern on each side.==Ecology==The species is widely distributedin marine environments in European waters, parts of the North Atlantic, the IndianOcean and the Mediterranean Sea (www.marinespecies.org).It lives in shallow waters (< 400 meters) and areas with a sandy ocean bed. Itis a benthic organism found in the sediments at the bottom. ==Systematics== XXX ==References==