Gastrotrichs are a poorly known group of aschelminths ("sac worms") that inhabit the world's oceans. Their minute size (roughly a millimeter long) has hampered their study, but Dr. William Hummon proposes an ambitious survey of gastrotrichs from the Mediterranean and Red Seas. This collaborative effort will bring together many European specialists and will result in a computer database of species names, a synthesis of distribution data for Europe, and new protocols for sampling, preserving, and studying gastrotrichs. Dr. Hummon will be testing the use of video recording and computer digitizing specimens before they are preserved and their original morphology is distorted. The proposed research will represent a significant advance in gastrotrich taxonomy, and in our understanding of the minute life forms that exist between sand grains. More complete documentation of the diversity of marine life will have direct impact on biogeographers, marine ecologists, and ecosystem scientists interested in the coastal zone.
