Digestive System Anatomy and Feeding Mechanism of Quatuoralisia malakhovi (Hemichordata, Torquaratoridae)

Abstract

The digestive system was anatomically studied in the deep-sea enteropneust Quatuoralisia mala-khovi. It was shown that lateral collar lips are twisted in such a way that they form a ciliary groove that leads to an internal channel, through which collected detritus particles are transferred to peripheral pharyngeal channels. The size of the selected particles ranges from 1–6 to 100–200 μm, which corresponds to feeding on the remains of planktonic diatoms. A fecal cord was observed to act as an anchor that holds the heavily watered jelly-like body of Torquaratoridae at the sea floor during feeding.