Rotifer, << ROH tuh fuhr, >> is a type of tiny multicellular animal that lives in water. The largest rotifers are about 1/26 inch (1 millimeter) long. Rotifers have cylinder- or vase-shaped bodies. Most species live in lakes, rivers, or streams. Some live in the ocean.
The name rotifer means wheel bearer and refers to the circles of hairlike projections called cilia on the animal’s head (see Cilia). The cilia create a circular water current that draws food to the rotifer. This water current also enables most species of rotifers to “swim.” Other species spend their entire lives attached to such objects as stones and leaves.
Some rotifer species consist only of females that produce young by themselves in a reproductive process called parthenogenesis. In other species, the female produces eggs by herself. The eggs hatch into females or into undeveloped males that cannot feed themselves but can fertilize eggs. Still other species have fully developed males and females.
