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Priapulida
Priapulida (priapulid worms, from Gr. πριάπος, ''priāpos'' ' Priapus' + Lat. ''-ul-'', diminutive), sometimes referred to as penis worms, is a phylum of unsegmented marine worms. The name of the phylum relates to the Greek god of fertility, because their general shape and their extensible spiny introvert (eversible) proboscis may resemble the shape of a human penis. They live in the mud and in comparatively shallow waters up to deep. Some species show a remarkable tolerance for hydrogen sulfide and anoxia. They can be quite abundant in some areas. In an Alaskan bay as many as 85 adult individuals of ''Priapulus caudatus'' per square meter has been recorded, while the density of its larvae can be as high as 58,000 per square meter. Together with Echiura and Sipuncula, they were once placed in the taxon Gephyrea, but consistent morphological and molecular evidence supports their belonging to Ecdysozoa, which also includes arthropods and nematodes. Fossil findings show t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Priapulus Caudatus
''Priapulus caudatus'' known as the cactus worm, is a marine invertebrate belonging to the phylum Priapulida. It is a cylindrical, unsegmented worm which burrows in soft sediment on the seabed. It has a circumpolar distribution. Taxonomy and evolution ''Priapulus caudatus'' is one of only nineteen known species in the phylum Priapulida. French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck first described it in 1816. Phylogenetic studies have indicated that scalidophorans, to which priapulids belong, are a basal clade of ecdysozoans (animals that grow by shedding their exoskeleton), and thus a sister group to all other ecdysozoans, an assortment including nematodes and arthropods. Priapulids were abundant and widespread in the Early Cambrian period and their tunnelling activities in soft sediment created many trace fossils. ''P. caudatus'' is likely to be very similar to the animals existing at that time. Description A cylindrical unsegmented worm, ''P. caudatus'' grows to a length of . The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scalidophora
Scalidophora is a group of marine pseudocoelomate protostomes that was proposed on morphological grounds to unite three phyla: the Kinorhyncha, the Priapulida and the Loricifera. The three phyla have four characters in common — chitinous cuticle that is moulted, rings of scalids on the introvert, flosculi, and two rings of introvert retracts.Heiner, I., Kristensen, R.H. 2005. Two new species of the genus ''Pliciloricus'' (Loricifera, Pliciloricidae) from the Faroe Bank, North Atlantic. Zoologischer Anzeiger. 243: 121–138. However, the monophyly of the Scalidophora was not supported by two molecular studies, where the position of the Loricifera was uncertain or as sister to the Panarthropoda. Both studies supported a reduced Scalidophora comprising the Kinorhyncha and Priapulida as sister phyla. Their closest relatives are the Panarthropoda, Nematoda and Nematomorpha; thus, they are placed in the group Ecdysozoa. The two species in the genus '' Markuelia'', known fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecdysozoa
Ecdysozoa () is a group of protostome animals, including Arthropoda (insects, chelicerata, crustaceans, and myriapods), Nematoda, and several smaller phyla. They were first defined by Aguinaldo ''et al.'' in 1997, based mainly on phylogenetic trees constructed using 18S ribosomal RNA genes. A large study in 2008 by Dunn ''et al.'' strongly supported the Ecdysozoa as a clade, that is, a group consisting of a common ancestor and all its descendants. The group is also supported by morphological characters, and includes all animals that grow by ecdysis, moulting their cuticle. The group was initially contested by a significant minority of biologists. Some argued for groupings based on more traditional taxonomic techniques, while others contested the interpretation of the molecular data. Etymology The name ''Ecdysozoa'' stems etymologically . Characteristics The most notable characteristic shared by ecdysozoans is a three-layered cuticle (four in Tardigrada) composed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coelom
The coelom (or celom) is the main body cavity in most animals and is positioned inside the body to surround and contain the digestive tract and other organs. In some animals, it is lined with mesothelium. In other animals, such as molluscs, it remains undifferentiated. In the past, and for practical purposes, coelom characteristics have been used to classify bilaterian animal phyla into informal groups. Etymology The term ''coelom'' derives from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'cavity'. Structure Development The coelom is the mesodermally lined cavity between the gut and the outer body wall. During the development of the embryo, coelom formation begins in the gastrulation stage. The developing digestive tube of an embryo forms as a blind pouch called the archenteron. In Protostomes, the coelom forms by a process known as schizocoely. The archenteron initially forms, and the mesoderm splits into two layers: the first attaches to the body wall or ectoderm, fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nematode
The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant- parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broad range of environments. Less formally, they are categorized as Helminths, but are taxonomically classified along with arthropods, tardigrades and other moulting animals in the clade Ecdysozoa, and unlike flatworms, have tubular digestive systems with openings at both ends. Like tardigrades, they have a reduced number of Hox genes, but their sister phylum Nematomorpha has kept the ancestral protostome Hox genotype, which shows that the reduction has occurred within the nematode phylum. Nematode species can be difficult to distinguish from one another. Consequently, estimates of the number of nematode species described to date vary by author and may change rapidly over time. A 2013 survey of animal biodiversity published in the mega ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meiobenthos
Meiobenthos, also called meiofauna, are small benthic invertebrates that live in both marine and fresh water environments. The term ''meiofauna'' loosely defines a group of organisms by their size, larger than microfauna but smaller than macrofauna, rather than a taxonomic grouping. In practice, that is organisms that can pass through a 1 mm mesh but will be retained by a 45 μm mesh, but the exact dimensions will vary from researcher to researcher. Whether an organism will pass through a 1 mm mesh will also depend upon whether it is alive or dead at the time of sorting. The term ''meiobenthos'' was first coined in 1942 by Mare, but organisms that would fit into the meiofauna category have been studied since the 18th century. A comprehensive text on meiofauna is ''Introduction to the study of meiofauna'' by Higgins and Thiel (1988). Meiofaunal taxa File:Ammonia tepida.jpg, Live foraminifera '' Ammonia tepida'' ( Rotaliida) File:Waterbear.jpg, Water bear '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loricifera
Loricifera (from Latin, '' lorica'', corselet (armour) + ''ferre'', to bear) is a phylum of very small to microscopic marine cycloneuralian sediment-dwelling animals that had been determined to be 37 described species, in 9 genera, but in 2021 has increased to 43 species. Aside from these described species, there are approximately 100 more that have been collected and not yet described. Their sizes range from 100 μm to ca. 1 mm. They are characterised by a protective outer case called a lorica and their habitat is in the spaces between marine gravel to which they attach themselves. The phylum was discovered in 1983 by R.M. Kristensen, near Roscoff, France. They are among the most recently discovered groups of animals. They attach themselves quite firmly to the substrate, and hence remained undiscovered for so long. The first specimen was collected in the 1970s, and later described in 1983. They are found at all depths, in different sediment type ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinorhyncha
Kinorhyncha ( grc, κινέω, kīnéō, I move, ' "snout") is a phylum of small marine invertebrates that are widespread in mud or sand at all depths as part of the meiobenthos. They are also called mud dragons. Modern species are or less, but Cambrian forms could reach . Anatomy Kinorhynchs are limbless animals, with a body consisting of a head, neck, and a trunk of eleven segments. They are the only members of Ecdysozoa, except from the panarthropoda, with a segmented body. Juveniles have eight or nine segments, depending on genus, with the last two or three being added later during growth. Like other ecdysozoans they do not have external cilia, but instead have a number of spines along the body, plus up to seven circles of spines around the head. These spines are used for locomotion, withdrawing the head and pushing forward, then gripping the substrate with the spines while drawing up the body. The body wall consists of a thin syncitial layer, which secretes a tough ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gephyrea
Gephyrea is a now-dismantled taxon for a group of non-annulated worms, considered intermediate between annelids and holothurians, containing the three modern phyla Echiura, Sipuncula, and Priapulida. References Obsolete animal taxa Protostome classes {{protostome-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Echiura
The Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of marine animals. Once treated as a separate phylum, they are now considered to belong to Annelida. Annelids typically have their bodies divided into segments, but echiurans have secondarily lost their segmentation. The majority of echiurans live in burrows in soft sediment in shallow water, but some live in rock crevices or under boulders, and there are also deep sea forms. More than 230 species have been described. Spoon worms are cylindrical, soft-bodied animals usually possessing a non-retractable proboscis which can be rolled into a scoop-shape to feed. In some species the proboscis is ribbon-like, longer than the trunk and may have a forked tip. Spoon worms vary in size from less than a centimetre in length to more than a metre. Most are deposit feeders, collecting detritus from the sea floor. Fossils of these worms are seldom found and the earliest known fossil specimen is from the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian). T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Worm
Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete worms (bristle worms); for the African giant earthworm, '' Microchaetus rappi''; and for the marine nemertean worm (bootlace worm), '' Lineus longissimus''. Various types of worm occupy a small variety of parasitic niches, living inside the bodies of other animals. Free-living worm species do not live on land but instead live in marine or freshwater environments or underground by burrowing. In biology, "worm" refers to an obsolete taxon, '' vermes'', used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, now seen to be paraphyletic. The name stems from the Old English word '' wyrm''. Most animals called "worms" are invertebrates, but the term is also used for the amphibian caecilians and the slow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylum (biology)
In biology, a phylum (; plural: phyla) is a level of classification or taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. Traditionally, in botany the term division has been used instead of phylum, although the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants accepts the terms as equivalent. Depending on definitions, the animal kingdom Animalia contains about 31 phyla, the plant kingdom Plantae contains about 14 phyla, and the fungus kingdom Fungi contains about 8 phyla. Current research in phylogenetics is uncovering the relationships between phyla, which are contained in larger clades, like Ecdysozoa and Embryophyta. General description The term phylum was coined in 1866 by Ernst Haeckel from the Greek (, "race, stock"), related to (, "tribe, clan"). Haeckel noted that species constantly evolved into new species that seemed to retain few consistent features among themselves and therefore few features that distinguished them as a group ("a self-containe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
