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Concept
Sipuncula
Summary
The Sipuncula or Sipunculida (common names sipunculid worms or peanut worms) is a class containing about 162 species of unsegmented marine annelid worms. The name Sipuncula is from the genus name Sipunculus, and comes from the Latin siphunculus meaning a "small tube".
Sipuncula was once considered a phylum, but was demoted to a class of Annelida, based on recent molecular work.
Sipunculans vary in size but most species are under in length. The body is divided into an unsegmented, bulbous trunk and a narrower, anterior section, called the "introvert", which can be retracted into the trunk. The mouth is at the tip of the introvert and is surrounded in most groups by a ring of short tentacles. With no hard parts, the body is flexible and mobile. Although found in a range of habitats throughout the world's oceans, the majority of species live in shallow water habitats, burrowing under the surface of sandy and muddy substrates. Others live under stones, in rock crevices or in other concealed locations.
Most sipunculans are deposit feeders, extending the introvert to gather food particles and draw them into the mouth, and retracting the introvert when feeding conditions are unsuitable or danger threatens. With a few exceptions, reproduction is sexual and involves a planktonic larval stage. Sipunculid worms are used as food in some countries in south-east Asia.
List of bilaterial animal orders
The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus first described the worm Sipunculus nudus in his Systema naturae in 1767. In 1814, the French zoologist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque used the word "Sipuncula" to describe the family (now Sipunculidae), and in time, the term came to be used for the whole class. This is a relatively understudied group, and it is estimated there may be around 162 species worldwide.
The phylogenetic placement of this group in the past has proved troublesome. Originally classified as annelids, despite the complete lack of segmentation, bristles and other annelid characters, the phylum Sipuncula was later allied with the Mollusca, mostly on the basis of developmental and larval characters.
Official source
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