Article
Article
Micrognathozoa
Article By:
Funch, Peter Department of Biological Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.900166
A group of ciliated microscopic animals living in freshwater. Micrognathozoa (micro, gnathos, and zoa are Greek for small, jaws, and animal, respectively) was proposed to constitute a new class to accommodate a new species, Limnognathia maerski (see illustration). This species was discovered in a cold freshwater spring in 1994 on Disko Island off the west coast of Greenland. Since that time, micrognathozoans have been reported from freshwater habitats on subantarctic islands and the British Isles, but the latter occurrence has not been confirmed yet in the scientific literature. It has been suggested that Micrognathozoa should be regarded as a subphylum/phylum in the phylum/superphylum Gnathifera.
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