What is Limnognathia maerski?
Q: What is Limnognathia maerski?
A: Limnognathia maerski is a newly discovered microscopic animal.
Q: Where was it first found?
A: It was first found in homothermic springs on Disko Island, Greenland in 1994.
Q: How big is L. maerski?
A: With an average length of one-tenth of a millimetre, it is one of the smallest animals known.
Q: What does its jaw structure look like?
A: It has very complicated jaws, with fifteen separate parts that are connected by ligaments and muscles. The jaw parts range from 4 μm to 14 μm in size.
Q: Does L. maerski have any sensory bristles?
A: Yes, stiff sensory bristles made up of one to three cilia are scattered about the body and flexible cilia are arranged in a horseshoe-shaped area on the forehead, and in spots on the sides of the head and in two rows on the underside of the body.
Q: How do they move food particles towards their mouth?
A: The cilia on their forehead create a current that moves food particles towards their mouth. The other cilia move them around as well.
Q: Do they lay eggs? If so, what kind?
A: Yes, they lay two kinds of eggs - thin-walled eggs that hatch quickly and thick-walled eggs that are believed to be resistant to freezing and capable of over-wintering and hatching in the spring.
