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Guide to New Zealand's freshwater invertebrates
Rhabdocoels
(
Dalyellidae
: Dalyellidae
)
Diagnostic features
The Dalyellids are among the most easily overlooked invertebrates in our fresh waters. They belong to the “rhabdocoels” which are small (typically 1 to 2mm) members of the flatworm Phylum Platyhelminthes. Dalyellids have soft rounded bodies, and when preserved they may resemble small soft seeds rather than animals. A mouth and two eyespots are often visible at one end of the body.
Typical habitats
Dalyellids are most common in wetlands or slow-flowing weedy rivers.
Feeding
They are likely to feed on small organisms such as protozoa, algae and tiny invertebrates.
Indicator value
Most of our records of rhabdocoels are from slow-flowing weedy habitats where water quality is less than pristine. Rhabdocoels have been assigned a soft bottom tolerance value of 0.9, but no hard bottom value has been assigned.
