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Loricifera
| Loricifera | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pliciloricus enigmatus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
| Phylum: | Loricifera Kristensen, 1983
|
| Order: | Nanaloricida
|
Loricifera [1] is a recently discovered ecdysozoan phylum of marine animals. The phylum includes the first animals known to exist in a completely anoxic environment (no oxygen at all).[2] The phylum was described in 1983 by Reinhardt Kristensen.[3]
They are a phylum of very small animals which live in sediment. There are now twenty-two described species, in eight genera.[4][5] In addition, there are about 100 more species which have been collected, but not yet described.[4] Their size ranges from 100 µm to about 1 mm.[6]
Their habitat is in the spaces between marine gravel to which they attach themselves. They are among the most recently discovered groups of Metazoans.[7] They attach themselves quite firmly to the gravel, and this explains why they remained undiscovered for so long.[5] The first specimen was collected in the 1970s, and later described in 1983.[7] They are found at all depths of water, in different sediment types, and in all latitudes.[5] They have not yet been found in the fossil record.
- ↑ from Latin, lorica, corset + ferre, to bear
- ↑ Cite error: The named reference
Naturewas used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page). - ↑ 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.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Gad G. 2005. Successive reduction of the last instar larva of Loricifera, as evidenced by two new species of Pliciloricus from the Great Meteor Seamount (Atlantic Ocean). Zoologischer Anzeiger. 243: 239–271.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ruppert, Edward E., Richard S. Fox, and Robert D. Barnes. 2004. Invertebrate zoology. 7th ed. Toronto: Brooks/Cole—Thomson. p776.
- ↑ Heiner I. 2005. Preliminary account of the loriciferan fauna of the Faroe Bank (NE Atlantic). Biofar Proceedings 2005: 213–219.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kristensen, R.M. 2002. An introduction to Loricifera, Cycliophora, and Micrognathozoa. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 42: 641–651.
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