Chaetonotus (Schizochaetonotus) schultzei Metschnikoff, 1865

Chatterjee, Tapas & Todaro, M. Antonio, 2021, An annotated checklist of the chaetonotidan Gastrotricha from India, Zootaxa 5027 (3), pp. 332-350 : 338

Chaetonotus (Schizochaetonotus) schultzei Metschnikoff, 1865

Records from India. WEST BENGAL: Port Canning in South 24 Pargana District and Kolkata (Calcutta)—Annadale (1907); JHARKHAND: Chotanagpur— Annandale (1907); GENERAL RECORD: Naidu & Rao (2004); Purushothaman (2017).

Habitat (as in Indian records). Fresh and brackish water; among aquatic vegetation.

Distribution. Europe and India.

Remarks. In India the species has been reported solely by Annandale (1907). At this regard, the author writes: “In January 1906, I took among filamentous algae from the ponds a representative of the Gastrotricha which agrees very closely with Zelinka’s (II) figure and description of Chaetonotus schultzei , which I have also seen in a similar situation in freshwater tanks in Calcutta and Chota Nagpur ”. It seems evident that such an identification, without any reference to the morphometry of the species, appears to be not scientifically appropriate. Consequently, this species should not be included among the India fauna.