They can be distinguished from other gastrotrichs by the absence of pores in the pharynx, and by the presence of adhesive glands at the posterior end of the animal only.

The smooth or complex cuticle has a variable number of adhesive tubes, and the pharyngeal lumen of Chaetonotids is Y-shaped.

A valve may be present at the junction of the pharynx and midgut.

The epidermis in most organisms in this order is partly syncytial.

Paucitubulatina are mostly freshwater, bowling pin shaped organisms that can be hermaphroditic, parthenogenetic or both.