Gnathifera (Spiralia)

Gnathifera
Temporal range: Fortunian – Recent
Pseudosagitta maxima (Chaetognatha)
Brachionus quadridentatus (Rotifera)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Clade: Bilateria
Clade: Nephrozoa
(unranked): Protostomia
(unranked): Spiralia
Clade: Gnathifera
Ahlrichs, 1995
Phyla

Gnathifera (from the Greek gnáthos, “jaw”, and the Latin -fera, “bearing”) is a clade of generally small spiralians characterized by complex jaws made of chitin. It comprises the phyla Gnathostomulida, Rotifera and Micrognathozoa.[1] Chaetognatha has recently been recognised as closely related to the group, with it either being included within Gnathifera[1] or the broader group Chaetognathifera.[2]

Gnathiferans include some of the most abundant phyla. Rotifers are among the most diverse and abundant freshwater animals and chaetognaths are among the most abundant marine plankton.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference marletaz19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Park, Tae-Yoon S.; Nielsen, Morten Lunde; Parry, Luke A.; Sørensen, Martin Vinther; Lee, Mirinae; Kihm, Ji-Hoon; Ahn, Inhye; Park, Changkun; de Vivo, Giacinto; Smith, M. Paul; Harper, David A. T.; Nielsen, Arne T.; Vinther, Jakob (2024-01-05). "A giant stem-group chaetognath". Science Advances. 10 (1): eadi6678. Bibcode:2024SciA...10I6678P. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi6678. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 10796117. PMID 38170772.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference suga07 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference longhurst85 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).