Hoilungia | |
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Microscopic image of Hoilungia hongkongensis. Scale bar is 0.2 mm. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Placozoa |
Class: | Uniplacotomia |
Order: | Hoilungea |
Family: | Hoilungidae |
Genus: | Hoilungia Eitel, Schierwater & Wörheide, 2018 |
Species: | H. hongkongensis
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Binomial name | |
Hoilungia hongkongensis Eitel, Schierwater & Wörheide, 2018
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Hoilungia is a genus that contains one of the simplest animals and belongs to the phylum Placozoa.[1][2] Described in 2018, it has only one named species, H. hongkongensis, although there are possible other species.[3] The animal superficially resembles another placozoan, Trichoplax adhaerens, but genetically distinct from it as mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed.[1]
Hoilungia was discovered in brackish water from mangrove swamps in Hong Kong.[4] These organisms are generally found in the biofilm surfaces in tropical and subtropical environments. Phylogenetically, they are placed closest to cnidarians. They are diploblastic animals and are believed to have dorso-ventral polarity along top and bottom body layers. Their body is overtly similar to oral-aboral axis of cnidarians.[5]