Mesostoma ehrenbergii
{{Short description|Species of flatworms}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Mesostoma_ehrenbergii.jpg
|image_alt = Photo of live animal
|image_caption = Live specimen
|genus = Mesostoma
|species = ehrenbergii
|authority = (Focke, 1836)
}}
Mesostoma ehrenbergii is a species of rhabdocoel flatworms in the family Typhloplanidae.
Description
The species is comparatively large for microturbellarians,{{Cite book|last=Young|first=J. O.|title=Keys to the freshwater microturbellarians of Britain and Ireland|publisher=Freshwater Biological Association|year=2001|location=Ambleside|pages=87}} reaching 1,5 cm{{Cite book|last=Noreña Janssen, C., Damborenea, C. & Brusa, F.|title=Platyhelminthes: Rhabdocoela: Typhloplanidae|publisher=Backhuys|year=2016|location=The Netherlands|pages=2}} in body length. Its body is highly transparent. It is dorsoventrally flattened with the anterior end gradually tapering and broadly pointed, and the posterior end sharply pointed.{{Cite journal|last=Ferguson, F. F. & Hayes, W. T. Jr.|date=1941|title=A Synopsis of the genus Mesostoma Ehrenberg 1835|journal=Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society|volume=57|pages=23}}
Taxonomy
It was described by Gustav Woldemar Focke as Planaria ehrenbergii in 1836.{{Cite web|title=Mesostoma ehrenbergii|url=http://turbellaria.umaine.edu/turbellaria/turb3.php?action=1&code=6555|access-date=2021-05-14|website=Turbellarian taxonomic database}}{{Cite journal|last=Focke|first=Gustav Woldemar|date=1836|title=Planaria ehrenbergii|url=https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/AWMN_1_0191-0206.pdf|journal=Ann. Wien. Mus.|volume=2|pages=191–206|via=ZOBODAT}} The specific name references Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg.
Distribution and habitat
The species has been recorded in Argentina, Brazil, Europe, Iran, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, New Zealand, Peru, Siberia, Trinidad, and the USA. It typically occurs in ponds and lakes.
Ecology and behavior
The animal primarily feeds on cladocerans, but also on fairy shrimps, naidid oligochaetes, large rotifers and mosquito larvae. It is able to produce two types of eggs, subitaneous eggs and dormant eggs.