KINGDOM ANIMALIA
| SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY |
KINGDOM ANIMALIA |
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| HOME | SYLLABUS | WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS | J. SYSTEMATIC BIOLOGY | TAXA OF LIFE | |
| PHYLUM LORICIFERA | |||||
INTRODUCTION TO THE LORICIFERA
Loricifera (lo-ri-KI-fe-ra) is formed from two Latin roots that mean corset (loricus) and bearers (fero). The reference is to the external covering (lorica).
First described by Kristensen (1983), the loriciferans are the inhabitants of marine sediments. They resemble rotifers with a body covered by large plates (a plated lorica, thus the name) and an anterior cone (introvert) surrounded by articulating spines (Figure A).
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A. Diagram of a loriciferan that illustrates the anterior feeding cone with articulating spines. |
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Image taken from: |
SYNOPTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE LORICIFERA
| The following description of the phylum Loricifera came from Margulis and Schwartz (1998), Brusca and Brusca (2003), Nielsen (2001), Meglitsch and Schramm (1991), Ruppert and Barnes (1991), and Tudge (2000). |
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I. SYNONYMS: loriciferans, the brush heads II. NUMBER: >14 known species. II. PHYLUM CHARACTERISTICS: A. Structure Symmetry: Bilateral Body Cavity: Pseudocoelom Body Covering: Outer cuticle. Support: Hydrostatic skeleton and cuticle; thorax covered by plated lorica. Digestive System: Mouth at end of mouth cone on head (introvert); anus terminal. Circulatory System: Absent. Locomotion: Animals move by extending anterior end allowing scalids, spines that look like an umbrella skeleton, catch on substrate. Excretory System: Absent. Nervous System: Anterior brain innervates each scalid and large ventral ganglion in thorax. Endocrine System: None. B. Reproduction: Reproductive System: Sexes separate. Probably internal fertilization. Oviparous. Development: Development largely unknown. C. Ecology: Marine in the interstices of the sediment, possibly cosmopolitan. |
HIERARCHICAL OF THE LORICIFERA
| The taxonomy of the phylum follows the system of Brusca and Brusca (2003) in which it has a single order that contains two families. I have assigned the name Loriciferida for its apparent class. |
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CLASS LORICIFERIDA (1 ORDER)
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This page is maintained by Jack R. Holt. Last modified: 01/08/08.
