Chaetonotus (Chaetonotus) elegans Konsuloff, 1921

Chatterjee, Tapas & Todaro, M. Antonio, 2021, An annotated checklist of the chaetonotidan Gastrotricha from India, Zootaxa 5027 (3), pp. 332-350 : 334

Chaetonotus (Chaetonotus) elegans Konsuloff, 1921

Records from India. MAHARASTRA: Aurangabad - Kagzipura lake— Harkal & Mokashe (2013, 2015).

Habitat (as in Indian records). Freshwater; among epiphytes.

Distribution. European species; lately it was reported also from India (but see below the ‘Remarks’).

Remarks. Recently, some gastrotrich specimens from the Kagzipura Lake have been identified as C. elegans ( Harkal & Mokashe 2013, 2015). According to the authors, specimens were fixed in formalin, stained with rose Bengal and identified with the aid of Thorp & Covich’s (2001) manual. Considering that the identification to species of formalin-fixed, chaetonotid gastrotrichs is very challenging even for the most experienced gastrotrich taxonomists, and that, most important, the identification key in Thorp & Covich (2001) refers 1) to American taxa only, and 2) with regards to the Gastrotricha, identification is solely at the genus level, we consider the Indian record of C. elegans by Harkal & Mokashe (2013, 2015) to be unreliable. Consequently, this species should not be considered amongst the Indian fauna.