''Brachionus calyciflorus'' is a

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...

rotifer The rotifers (, from the Latin , "wheel", and , "bearing"), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John H ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

occurring in

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...

. It is commonly used as a

model organism A model organism (often shortened to model) is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workin ...

in toxicology, ecology and evolutionary biology.
Its advantages include the small size and short

generation time In population biology and demography, generation time is the average time between two consecutive generations in the lineages of a population. In human populations, generation time typically ranges from 22 to 33 years. Historians sometimes use this ...

(average generation time of ''B. calyciflorus'' is around 2.2 days at 24 °C).

Reproduction

''Brachionus calyciflorus'' normally reproduces by cyclical

parthenogenesis Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and developmen ...

.
Transitions to obligate parthenogenesis have been described. Obligate parthenogens were homozygous for a recessive allele, which caused inability to respond to the chemical signals that normally induce sexual reproduction in this species.

Species complex

Like the ''Brachionus plicatilis'' cryptic species complex ''Brachionus calyciflorus'' seems also to be a species complex consisting of more than one species.Spatial patterns of genetic differentiation in Brachionus calyciflorus species complex collected from East China in summer XL Xiang, YL Xi, XL Wen, JY Zhang, Q Ma - Hydrobiologia, 2010 - Springer

References

Brachionidae {{rotifer-stub