rotifer

American  

[roh-tuh-fer] / ˈroʊ tə fər /

noun

1. any microscopic animal of the phylum (or class) Rotifera, found in fresh and salt waters, having one or more rings of cilia on the anterior end.

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rotifer British  

/ rəʊˈtɪfərəl, ˈrəʊtɪfə /

noun

1. Also called: wheel animalcule.  any minute aquatic multicellular invertebrate of the phylum Rotifera , having a ciliated wheel-like organ used in feeding and locomotion: common constituents of freshwater plankton

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rotifer Scientific  

/ rō′tə-fər /

1. Any of various tiny, multicellular aquatic animals of the phylum Rotifera, having a wheel-like ring of cilia at their front ends. The cilia trap small organisms for food. Rotifers are grouped by some scientists together with nematodes and some other invertebrates as aschelminths.

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Other Word Forms

• rotiferal
  adjective
• rotiferous
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of rotifer

From New Latin, dating back to 1785–95; see origin at Rotifera

Example Sentences

But it is probably alone in being the subject of a recent music video tribute by the Austrian musician Robert Rotifer, which is also in the show.

From New York Times • Sep. 19, 2010

In another chapter, when viewing a Philodine, we shall see how in the family to which the Common Rotifer belongs, the gizzard departs from the perfect type.

From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Slack, Henry J.

Keeping him company was another little Rotifer, named after its appearance, Monocerca rattus, the 'One-tailed Rat.'

From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Slack, Henry J.

It must be concluded that the formation of the Vaucheria gall is induced by the mechanical irritation which the Rotifer causes in the protoplasm.

From Disease in Plants by Ward, H. Marshall

Ehrenberg treated it as a Rotifer, and Dujardin placed it among the Infusoria, in a particular class, comprehending symmetrical organisms.

From Marvels of Pond-life A Year's Microscopic Recreations by Slack, Henry J.