Tag Archives: phylum

The first and only micrognathozoan , Micrognathozoa specimen, was collected from Greenland in 1994 but not formally described until 2000. Micrognathozoans are tiny animals that are interstitial (living between sand grains) and about 142 µ m long. The body consists of a two-part head, a thorax, and an abdomen with …

Rotifera (ro-tif -e-ra) (L. rota, wheel, fera, those that bear) derivet heir name from the characteristic ciliated crown, or corona, that, when beating, often gives the impression of rotating wheels . Rotifers range from 40 µ m to 3 mm in length, but most are between 100 and 500 µ …

Gnathostomulids are delicate wormlike animals less than 2 mm long . The first known species of Gnathostomulida (nath’o-sto-myu’lid-a) (Gr. gnathos, jaw, + stoma, mouth, L .ulus, dim. suffix) was observed in 1928 in the Baltic, but its description was not published until 1956. Since then jaw worms have been found …

Nemerteans (nem-er -te-ans) are often called ribbon worms. Their name (Gr. Nemertes, one of the Nereids, unerring one) refers to the unerring aim of the proboscis, a long muscular tube  and that can be thrust out swiftly to grasp their prey. The phylum is also called Rhynchocoela (ring -ko-se -la) …

The name Mesozoa (mes-o-zo -a) (Gr. mesos, in the middle+ zoon, animal) was coined by an early investigator (vanBeneden, 1876) who considered the group a “missing link”between protozoa and metazoa. These minute, ciliated, wormlike animals represent an extremely simple level of organization. All mesozoans live as parasites or symbionts in …