Tale of a sleeping beauty: a new and easily cultured model organism for experimental studies on bdelloid rotifers

We present the description of a new species of bdelloid rotifer, Adineta ricciae n. sp.,, which emerged from dry mud of Ryan's billabong, Victoria, Australia. Its conspicuous frontal eyes easily diagnose the species; it differs from A. oculata (Milne) by the position of the eyes and its general habitus. The animal came to our attention because it is exceptionally easy to culture, so that the species already is being used in diverse experimental studies utilising bdelloid rotifers as model organisms.