Phylum Loricifera
Phylum Loricifera
Loricifera (L., lorica, corselet, + Gr., phora, bearing) are a very recently described phylum of animals (1983). The tiny animals (0.25 mm long) live in spaces between grains of marine gravel, to which they cling tightly. Though they were described from specimens collected off the coast of France, they are apparently widely distributed in the world.
Form and Function
Loriciferans have oral styles and scalids rather similar to those of the kinorhynchs, and the entire forepart of the body can be retracted into the circular lorica (Figure 15-8). The nature of their diet is unknown. Their brain fills most of the head, and scalids are innervated by nerves from the brain and other ganglia. Sexes are separate, but details of reproduction are unknown. Juveniles resemble adults in several respects but have a pair of tapering toes that are believed to function in locomotion.
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| Figure 15-8 Dorsal view of adult loriciferan, Nanoloricus mysticus. |
Loricifera (L., lorica, corselet, + Gr., phora, bearing) are a very recently described phylum of animals (1983). The tiny animals (0.25 mm long) live in spaces between grains of marine gravel, to which they cling tightly. Though they were described from specimens collected off the coast of France, they are apparently widely distributed in the world.
Form and Function
Loriciferans have oral styles and scalids rather similar to those of the kinorhynchs, and the entire forepart of the body can be retracted into the circular lorica (Figure 15-8). The nature of their diet is unknown. Their brain fills most of the head, and scalids are innervated by nerves from the brain and other ganglia. Sexes are separate, but details of reproduction are unknown. Juveniles resemble adults in several respects but have a pair of tapering toes that are believed to function in locomotion.
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