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Containing group: Bilateria

Introduction

Cycliophorans live commensally on the mouthparts of lobsters of the family Nephropidae. The three known hosts are the American lobster Homarus americanus, the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus, and the European lobster Homarus gammarus (Obst et al. 2005).

References

Jessica M. Baker, J. M. and G. Giribet. 2007. A molecular phylogenetic approach to the phylum Cycliophora provides further evidence for cryptic speciation in Symbion americanus. Zoologica Scripta 36(4):353–359.

Funch, P. 1996. The chordoid larva of Symbion pandora (Cycliophora) is a modified trochophore. Journal of Morphology 230:231-263.

Funch, P. and R. M. Kristensen. 1995. Cycliophora is a new phylum with affinities to Entoprocta and Ectoprocta. Nature 378:711-714.

Funch, P. and R. M. Kristensen. 1997. Cycliophora. Pages 409-474 in Microscopic Anatomy of Invertebrates, Vol. 13: Lophophorates, Entoprocta, and Cycliophora. F. W. Harrison and R. M. Woollacott (eds.) Wiley-Liss, New York.

Giribet, G., D. L. Distel, M. Polz, W. Sterrer and W. Wheeler. 2000. Triploblastic relationships with emphasis on the acoelomates and the position of Gnathostomulida, Cycliophora, Plathelminthes, and Chaetognatha: a combined approach of 18S rDNA sequences and morphology. Systematic Biology 49:539-562.

Kristensen, R.M. 2000. Cycliophora. Pages 251-255 in Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, 5. Macmillan Reference, London.

Kristensen, R. M. and P. Funch. 2001. Phylum Cycliophora. Pages 199-208 in: Atlas of Marine Invertebrate Larvae. C. M. Young, M. A. Sewell, and M. E. Rice, eds. Academic Press, London.

Obst M. and P. Funch. 2003. Dwarf male of Symbion pandora (Cycliophora). Journal of Morphology 255(3):261-278.

Obst M. and P. Funch. 2006. The microhabitat of Symbion pandora (Cycliophora) on the mouthparts of its host Nephrops norvegicus (Decapoda: Nephropidae). Marine Biology 148(5):945-951.

Obst M., P. Funch, and R. M. Kristensen. 2006. A new species of Cycliophora from the mouthparts of the American lobster Homarus americanus (Nephropidae, Decapoda). Organisms, Diversity & Evolution 6:83-97.

Obst, M., P. Funch and G. Giribet. 2005. Hidden diversity and host specificity in cycliophorans: a phylogeographic analysis along the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. Molecular Ecology 14: 4427-4440.

Winnepenninckx, B., T. Backeljau, and R. M. Kristensen. 1998. Relations of the new phylum Cycliophora. Nature 393:636-638.

Information on the Internet

• A Lobster's Microscopic Friend: Symbion pandora - a new life form and a new phylum. Micscape Magazine article on Cycliophora.
• Peter Funch
• Matthias Obst