Kinorhyncha
Sign in to saveKinorhyncha (, ' "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 commonly called mud dragons'''. Modern species are or less, but Cambrian forms could reach .
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Kinorhyncha is a phylum of tiny marine animals, nicknamed "mud dragons," that live in muddy and sandy ocean floors at all depths around the world. Though modern mud dragons are microscopic or smaller, ancient species from the Cambrian period could grow much larger, making them interesting subjects for understanding how life has changed over time.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Subclass of
- invertebrate
- Parent taxon
- Ecdysozoa
- Image
- Echinoderes hwiizaa.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- P105
- phylum
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Anatomy
- Reproduction
- Classification
- Taxonomy
- References
- External links
Kinorhyncha (, ' "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 commonly called mud dragons'. Modern species are or less, but Cambrian forms could reach .
== Anatomy == thumb|left|Living Echinoderes specimen, showing movement and head retraction 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; a feature that probably evolved independently from them. Juveniles have eight or nine segments, depending on genus, with the last two or three being added later during growth. A Cambrian species, Eokinorhynchus rarus, had about twice as many segments as present forms. 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.