File:Orthonetida_dict_flat_and_cylinder.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Orthonectida
Sign in to saveAlso known as orthonectids
Orthonectida () is a small phylum of poorly known parasites of marine invertebrates that are among the simplest of multi-cellular organisms. Members of this phylum are known as orthonectids.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- monotypic taxon
- Subclass of
- invertebrate
- Parent taxon
- protostome
- Image
- Orthonetida dict flat and cylinder.png
Show 5 more facts
- taxon common name
- 直泳蟲門
- Commons category
- Orthonectida
- taxon name
- Orthonectida
- taxon rank
- phylum
- topic's main category
- Category:Orthonectida
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Encyclopedic overview
4 sectionsContents
- Biology
- Classification
- Known species
- References
Orthonectida () is a small phylum of poorly known parasites of marine invertebrates that are among the simplest of multi-cellular organisms. Members of this phylum are known as orthonectids.
==Biology== The adults, which are the sexual stage, are microscopic wormlike animals, consisting of a single layer of ciliated outer cells surrounding a mass of sex cells. They swim freely within the bodies of their hosts, which include flatworms, polychaete worms, bivalve molluscs, and echinoderms. Most are gonochoristic, with separate male and female individuals, but a few species are hermaphroditic.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Orthonectida” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.