Monogononta is a class of
rotifers, found mostly in
freshwater but also in
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...
and marine environments. They include both free-swimming and
sessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
forms. Monogononts generally have a reduced corona, and each individual has a single
gonad
A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a mixed gland that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gonad, the testicle, produces sper ...
, which gives the group its name. Males are generally smaller than females, and are produced only during certain times of the year, with females otherwise reproducing through
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 development ...
.
Their mastax is not designed for grinding. They produce mictic and amictic eggs. The class contains 1,570 species.
References
External links
Rotifer World Catalog, by C.D. Jersabek & M.F. Leitner
Eurotatoria
Protostome classes
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