Acanthocephala
/əˌkanθə(ʊ)ˈsɛfələ
/ /əˌkanθə(ʊ)ˈkɛfələ/plural noun Zoology
A small phylum of parasitic invertebrates that comprises the thorny-headed worms.Nielsen and Nielsen et al. come to generally comparable results, although sometimes the additional taxa Rotifera, Acanthocephala and Chaetognatha were included in Aschelminthes....
- Micrognathozoa lack this characteristic feature and, therefore, are postulated to be more basal in the Gnathifera, as a sister-group either to Gnathostomulida or Rotifera / Acanthocephala.
- The sister - group relationship between Gnathostomulida and Rotifera + Acanthocephala was first mentioned by Rieger and Tyler.
Derivatives
acanthocephalan
- Alewives caught off the Atlantic coast were found to host the following parasites: acanthocephalans, cestode, trematodes, copepods, and nematodes.
- However, among helminth parasites, e.g., trematodes, cestodes, nematodes, and acanthocephalans, this is not the case.
- Parsimony analyses recover a paraphyletic Rotifera, where a bdelloid rotifer and acanthocephalans form a monophyletic clade.
acanthocephalid
- Numerous acanthocephalids are also attached to the mucosa of the cecum and the cecal-colic junction.
Origin
Modern Latin (plural), from acantho- 'thornlike' + Greek kephalē 'head'.