Abstract
Kinorhyncha is a phylum of marine, meiobenthic, segmented, pseudocoelomate animals. To date, about 230 species of kinorhynchs have been reported worldwide, from habitats including coarse to fine sand, mud, and surfaces/interstices of algae or other invertebrates. Although they are broadly distributed, kinorhynchs have been scarcely studied in Japanese waters. Before the twentieth century, there were only six reports of kinorhynchs from Japan, totaling 4 species in 3 genera. Although the known kinorhynch diversity in Japanese waters has increased markedly in the past 15 years to 16 named and at least 17 unnamed species representing 14 genera, this is likely only a small portion of the actual species diversity in this region. Phylogenetic studies of kinorhynchs began only recently. Recent phylogenetic analyses of molecular data, or of combined morphological and molecular data, have revealed discrepancies between the old classification and phylogenetic relationships among higher kinorhynch taxa. On the basis of phylogenies, the kinorhynch classification has been revised to 2 classes, 3 orders, and 11 families. Although the higher-level phylogeny is fairly well resolved, relationships within and among some taxa remain unclear.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abe Y (1930) Das Vorkommen von Echinoderes in den japanischen Gewässern. J Sci Hiroshima Univ Ser B1(1):39–44
Adrianov AV (1989) First report of kinorhynchs from the Sea of Japan. Zool Zh 61:17–27
Adrianov AV, Maiorova AS (2015) Pycnophyes abyssorum sp. n. (Kinorhyncha: Homalorhagida), the deepest kinorhynch species so far. Deep-Sea Res II 111:49–59
Adrianov AV, Malakhov VV (1994) Kinorhyncha: structure, development, phylogeny and taxonomy. Nauka, Moscow [in Russian]
Adrianov AV, Malakhov VV (1999) Kinorhyncha. In: Adrianov AV, Malakhov VV (eds) Cephalorhyncha of the world ocean. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, pp 82–305
Adrianov AV, Murakami C, Shirayama Y (2002a) Echinoderes aureus n. sp. (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) from Tanabe Bay (Honsyu Island), Japan, with a key to the genus Echinoderes. Species Divers 7:47–66
Adrianov AV, Murakami C, Shirayama Y (2002b) Taxonomic study of the Kinorhyncha in Japan. 2. Condyloderes setoensis, a new species (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) from Tanabe Bay (Honshu)—first representative of the genus in the Pacific Ocean. Proc Biol Soc Wash 115:205–216
Adrianov AV, Murakami C, Shirayama Y (2002c) Taxonomic study of the Kinorhyncha in Japan. 3. Echinoderes sensibilis n. sp. (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) from Tanabe Bay. Zool Sci 19:463–473
Bauer-Nebelsick M (1996) Antygomonas oreas sp. n., a new deep sea kinorhynch from the Pacific Ocean (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida). Ann Naturhist Mus Wien 98B:5–22
Campbell LI, Rota-Stabelli O, Edgecombe GD, Marchioro T, Longhorn SJ, Telford MJ, Philippe H, Rebecchi L, Peterson KJ, Pisani D (2011) MicroRNAs and phylogenomics resolve the relationships of Tardigrada and suggest that velvet worms are the sister group of Arthropoda. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 38:15920–15924
Claparède E (1863) Zur Kenntnis der Gattung Echinoderes Duj. In: Claparède E (ed) Beobachtungen über Anatomie und Entwicklungsgeschichte wirbelloser Thiere an der Küste von Normandie angestellt. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, pp 90–92, 119, plates XVI–XVII
Dal Zotto M, Di Domenico M, Garraffoni A, Sørensen MV (2013) Franciscideres gen. nov.—a new, highly aberrant kinorhynch genus from Brazil, with an analysis of its phylogenetic position. Syst Biodivers 11:303–321
Danovaro R, Gambi C, Della Croce N (2002) Meiofauna hotspot in the Atacama Trench, eastern South Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Res I 49:843–857
Dujardin F (1851) Sur un petit animal marin, l’Echinodère, formant un type intermédiaire entre les crustacès et les vers. Ann Sci Nat Ser 3 Zool 15:58–173
Dunn CW, Giribet G, Edgecombe GD, Hejnol A (2014) Animal phylogeny and its evolutionary implications. Annu Rev Ecol Evol Syst 45:371–395
Gerlach SA (1956) Üver einen aberranten Vertreter der Kinorhynchen aus dem Küstengrundwasser. Kiel Meeresforsch 12:120–124
Giere O (2009) Meiobenthology: the microscopic motile fauna of aquatic sediments. Springer, Berlin
Grzelak K, Kotwicki L (2012) Meiofaunal distribution in Hornsund Fjord, Spitsbergen. Polar Biol 35:269–280
Hejnol A, Obst M, Stamatakis A, Ott M, Rouse GW, Edgecombe GD, Martinez P, Baguñà J, Bailly X, Jondelius U, Wiens M, Müller WEG, Seaver E, Wheeler WC, Martindale MQ, Giribet G, Dunn CW (2009) Assessing the root of bilaterian animals with scalable phylogenetic methods. Proc R Soc B 276:4261–4270
Herman RI, Dahms HU (1992) Meiofauna communities along a depth transect off Halley Bay (Weddell Sea, Antarctica). Polar Biol 12:313–320
Herranz M, Thormar J, Benito J, Sánchez N, Pardos F (2012) Meristoderes gen. nov., a new kinorhynch genus, with the description of two new species and their implications for echinoderid phylogeny (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida, Echinoderidae). Zool Anz 251:161–179
Herranz M, Boyle MJ, Pardos F, Neves RC (2014) Comparative myoanatomy of Echinoderes (Kinorhyncha): a comprehensive investigation by CLSM and 3D reconstruction. Front Zool 11:31
Higgins RP (1968) Taxonomy and postembryonic development of the Cryptorhagae, a new suborder for the mesopsammic kinorhynch genus Cateria. Trans Am Microsc Soc 87:21–39
Higgins RP (1977) Two new species of Echinoderes (Kinorhyncha) from South Carolina. Trans Am Microsc Soc 96:340–354
Higgins RP (1983) The Atlantic Barrier Reef ecosystem at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize 2: Kinorhyncha. Smithson Contrib Mar Sci 18:1–131
Higgins RP (1986) A new species of Echinoderes (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) from a coarse-sand California beach. Trans Am Microsc Soc 105:266–273
Higgins RP (1988) Kinorhyncha. In: Higgins RP, Thiel H (eds) Introduction to the study of meiofauna. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, pp 328–331
Higgins RP (1990) Zelinkaderidae, a new family of cyclorhagid Kinorhyncha. Smithson Contrib Zool 500:1–26
Higgins RP, Shirayama Y (1990) Dracoderidae, a new family of the cyclorhagid Kinorhyncha from the Inland Sea of Japan. Zool Sci 7:939–946
Horn TD (1978) The distribution of Echinoderes coulli (Kinorhyncha) along an interstitial salinity gradient. Trans Am Microsc Soc 97:586–589
Ito T (1978) Meiobenthos of a shallow-water sandy bottom in Ishikari Bay, Hokkaido: a general account. J Fac Sci Hokkaido Univ Ser VI 21:287–294
Ito T (1985) Organisms in sand interstices. Kaimeisha, Tokyo [in Japanese]
Jensen P (1983) Meiofaunal abundance and vertical zonation in a sublittoral soft bottom, with a test of the Haps corer. Mar Biol 74:319–326
Kawamura T (1947) Kinorhyncha. In: Uchida S (ed) Illustrated encyclopedia of the fauna of Japan. Hokuryukan, Tokyo, p 1419
Kristensen RM, Higgins RP (1991) Kinorhyncha. In: Harrison FW, Ruppert EE (eds) Microscopic anatomy of invertebrates, vol 4, Aschelminthes. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp 377–404
Lemburg C (1995) Ultrastructure of sense organs and receptor cells of the neck and lorica of the Halicryptus spinulosus larva (Priapulida). Microfauna Mar 10:7–30
Lundbye H, Rho HS, Sørensen MV (2011) Echinoderes rex n. sp. (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida), the largest Echinoderes species found so far. Sci Mar 75:41–51
Mallatt J, Giribet G (2006) Further use of nearly complete 28S and 18S rRNA genes to classify Ecdysozoa: 37 more arthropods and a kinorhynch. Mol Phylogenet Evol 40:772–794
Moore PG (1973) Campyloderes macquariae Johnston, 1938 (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) from the northern hemisphere. J Nat Hist 7:341–354
Murakami C (2003) Study on Kinorhyncha with new record of Echinoderes aureus and Echinoderes sensibilis from Boso Peninsula, Japan. Annu Rep Mar Biol Res Inst Jpn 43–50 (in Japanese)
Murakami C (2005) A brief review of general biology of Kinorhyncha, with proposed new standard Japanese names for the species from Japan. TAXA (Proc Jpn Soc Syst Zool) 19:34–41 [in Japanese with English abstract]
Murakami C, Adrianov AV, Shirayama Y (2001) Taxonomic study of Kinorhyncha in Japan 1. Pycnophyes tubuliferus Adrianov, 1989 (Kinorhyncha: Homalorhagida) from Japan. Publ Seto Mar Biol Lab 39:113–127
Nebelsick M (1993) Introvert, mouth cone, and nervous system of Echinoderes capitatus (Kinorhyncha, Cyclorhagida) and implications for the phylogenetic relationships of Kinorhyncha. Zoomorphology 113:211–232
Neuhaus B (1994) Ultrastructure of alimentary canal and body cavity, ground pattern, and phylogenetic relationships of the Kinorhyncha. Microfauna Mar 9:61–156
Neuhaus B (2013) Kinorhyncha (= Echinodera). In: Schmidt-Rhaesa A (ed) Handbook of zoology. Gastrotricha, Cycloneuralia and Gnathifera 1: Nematomorpha, Priapulida, Kinorhyncham, Loricifera. De Gruyter, Berlin, pp 181–348
Neuhaus B, Blasche T (2006) Fissuroderes, a new genus of Kinorhyncha (Cyclorhagida) from the deep sea and continental shelf of New Zealand and from the continental shelf of Costa Rica. Zool Anz 245:19–52
Neuhaus B, Higgins RP (2002) Ultrastructure, biology, and phylogenetic relationships of Kinorhyncha. Integr Comp Biol 42:619–632
Neuhaus B, Kegel A (2015) Redescription of Cateria gerlachi (Kinorhyncha, Cyclorhagida) from Sri Lanka and of C. styx from Brazil, with notes on C. gerlachi from India and C. styx from Chile, and the ground pattern of the genus. Zootaxa 3965:1–77
Nielsen C (2012) Animal evolution: interrelationships of the living phyla, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Ostmann A, Nordhaus I, Sørensen MV (2012) First recording of kinorhynchs from Java, with the description of a new brackish water species from a mangrove-fringed lagoon. Mar Biodivers 42:79–91
Park JK, Rho HS, Kristensen RM, Kim W, Giribet G (2006) First molecular data on the phylum Loricifera—an investigation into the phylogeny of Ecdysozoa with emphasis on the positions of Loricifera and Priapulida. Zool Sci 23:943–954
Pisani D, Carton R, Campbell LI, Akanni WA, Mulville E, Rota-Stabelli R (2013) An overview of arthropod genomics, mitogenomics, and the evolutionary origins of the arthropod proteome. In: Minelli A, Boxshall G, Fusco G (eds) Arthropod biology and evolution: molecules, development, morphology. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 41–61
Reinhard W (1885) Kinorhyncha (Echinoderes), leur structure anatomique et leur place dans le système. Trav Soc Nat Univ Imp Kharkow 19:205–305
Rota-Stabelli O, Daley AC, Pisani D (2013) Molecular timetrees reveal a Cambrian colonization of land and a new scenario for ecdysozoan evolution. Curr Biol 23:392–398
Sánchez N, Herranz M, Benito J, Pardos F (2012) Kinorhyncha from the Iberian Peninsula: new data from the first intensive sampling campaigns. Zootaxa 3402:24–44
Sánchez N, Pardos F, Sørensen M (2014) A new kinorhynch genus, Mixtophyes (Kinorhyncha: Homalorhagida), from the Guinea Basin deep-sea, with new data on the family Neocentrophyidae. Helgol Mar Res 68:221–239
Santos PJP, Botter-Carvalho ML, do Nascimento-Júnior AB, Marinho RGC, Carvalho PVVC, Valença APMC (2009) Response of estuarine meiofuana assemblage to effects of fertilizer enrichment used in the sugar cane monoculture. Pernambuco, Brazil. Braz J Oceanogr 57:43–55
Schmidt-Rhaesa A, Bartolomaeus T, Lemburg C, Ehlers U, Garey JR (1998) The position of the Arthropoda in the phylogenetic system. J Morphol 238:263–285
Sørensen MV (2006) New kinorhynchs from Panama, with a discussion of some phylogenetically significant cuticular structures. Meiofauna Mar 15:51–77
Sørensen MV (2008) A new kinorhynch genus from the Antarctic deep sea and a new species of Cephalorhyncha from Hawaii (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida: Echinoderidae). Org Divers Evol 8:230e1–230e18
Sørensen MV (2013) Phylum Kinorhyncha. Zootaxa 3703:63–66
Sørensen MV, Pardos F (2008) Kinorhynch systematics and biology: an introduction to the study of kinorhynchs, inclusive identification keys to the genera. Meiofauna Mar 16:21–73
Sørensen MV, Rho HS (2009) Triodontoderes annulap gen. et sp. nov.: a new cyclorhagid kinorhynch genus and species from Micronesia. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 89:1269–1279
Sørensen MV, Thormar J (2010) Wollunquaderes majkenae gen. et sp. nov.: a new cyclorhagid kinorhynch genus and species from the Coral Sea, Australia. Mar Biodivers 40:261–275
Sørensen MV, Heiner I, Ziemer O, Neuhaus B (2007) Tubulideres seminoli gen. et sp. nov. and Zelinkaderes brightae sp. nov. (Kinorhyncha, Cyclorhagida) from Florida. Helgol Mar Res 61:247–265
Sørensen MV, Hebsgaard MB, Heiner I, Glenner H, Willerslev E, Kristensen RM (2008) New data from an enigmatic phylum: evidence from molecular sequence data supports a sister-group relationship between Loricifera and Nematomorpha. J Zool Syst Evol Res 46:231–239
Sørensen MV, Pardos F, Herranz M, Rho HS (2010a) New data on the genus Paracentrophyes (Homalorhagida, Kinorhyncha), with the description of a new species from the West Pacific. Open Zool J 3:42–59
Sørensen MV, Rho HS, Kim D (2010b) A new species of the rare genus Sphenoderes (Cyclorhagida, Kinorhyncha), with differential notes on S. indicus Higgins, 1969. Mar Biol Res 6:472–484
Sørensen MV, Herranz M, Rho HS, Min WG, Yamasaki H, Sánchez N, Pardos F (2012) On the genus Dracoderes Higgins & Shirayama, 1990 (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) with a redescription of its type species, D. abei, and a description of new species from Spain. Mar Biol Res 8:210–232
Sørensen MV, Dal Zotto M, Rho HS, Herranz M, Sánchez N, Pardos F, Yamasaki H (2015) Phylogeny of Kinorhyncha based on morphology and two molecular loci. PLoS ONE 10:e0133440
Sudzuki M (1976) Microscopical marine animals scarcely known from Japan, 1: micro- & meio-faunae around Kasado Island in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan. Proc Jap Soc Syst Zool 12:5–12
Tokioka T (1949) Notes on Echinoderes found in Japan. Publ Seto Mar Biol Lab 1:67–69
Wallace RL, Ricci C, Melone G (1996) A cladistic analysis of pseudocoelomate (aschelminth) morphology. Invertebr Biol 115:104–112
Yamasaki H (2015) Two new species of Dracoderes (Kinorhyncha: Dracoderidae) from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, with a molecular phylogeny of the genus. Zootaxa 3980:359–378
Yamasaki H, Fujimoto S (2014) Two new species in the Echinoderes coulli group (Echinoderidae, Cyclorhagida, Kinorhyncha) from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. ZooKeys 382:27–52
Yamasaki H, Kajihara H (2012) A new brackish-water species of Echinoderes (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) from the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Species Divers 17:109–118
Yamasaki H, Kajihara H, Mawatari SF (2012) First report of kinorhynchs from Hokkaido, Japan, including a new species of Pycnophyes (Pycnophyidae: Homalorhagida). Zootaxa 3425:23–41
Yamasaki H, Hiruta SF, Kajihara H (2013) Molecular phylogeny of kinorhynchs. Mol Phylogenet Evol 67:303–310
Yamasaki H, Hiruta SF, Kajihara H, Dick MH (2014) Two kinorhynch species (Cyclorhagida, Echinoderidae, Echinoderes) show different distribution patterns across Tsugaru Strait, Northern Japan. Zool Sci 31:421–429
Yamasaki H, Fujimoto S, Miyazaki K (2015) Phylogenetic position of Loricifera inferred from nearly complete 18S and 28S rRNA gene sequences. Zool Lett 1:18
Zelinka K (1928) Monographie der Echinodera. Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig
Zrzavý J, Mihulka S, Kepka P, Bezdĕk A, Tietz D (1998) Phylogeny of the Metazoa based on morphological and 18S ribosomal DNA evidence. Cladistics 14:249–285
Acknowledgments
I thank Matthew H. Dick for commenting on and editing the manuscript; and Birger Neuhaus and Fernando Pardos for having critically reviewed an earlier version of the manuscript. This study was supported in part by a grant from the International Research Hub Project for Climate Change and Coral Reef/Island Dynamics from the University of the Ryukyus, for cultivation of young scientists from the Research Institute of Marine Invertebrates, and a KAKENHI Grant (15K18598) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Japan
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yamasaki, H. (2017). Diversity of Kinorhyncha in Japan and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Phylum. In: Motokawa, M., Kajihara, H. (eds) Species Diversity of Animals in Japan. Diversity and Commonality in Animals. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56432-4_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56432-4_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo
Print ISBN: 978-4-431-56430-0
Online ISBN: 978-4-431-56432-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)