Does Diurodrilus form a new phylum?

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25650133
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biodiversity/Systematics
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: KAJIHARA Hiroshi 北海道大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (30360895)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SHIMANO Satoshi 法政大学, 国際文化学部, 教授 (70355337) ; KIMURA Atsushi 北海道大学, 大学院理学研究院, 准教授 (90422005)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 海産無脊椎動物 / 間隙動物 / 環形動物 / 系統分類学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

More than 20 animal phyla are known from minute environment between sand particles in beaches. A number of interstitial species are known in the phylum Annelida, a group that is mainly comprised of lugworms, earthworms, and leaches. At the onset of this study, 11 species in eight genera of interstitial annelids had been reported from Japanese waters. No representative of the genus Diurodrilus had been known in Japan, but there is an undescribed form in Ishikari Beach, Hokkaido. This study aimed to test the phylum affiliation of such interstitial annelids as Diurodrilus and Trilobodrilus, which was doubted by previous studies. The conclusion, however, was that both groups actually belong to the phylum Annelida.

Free Research Field

動物系統分類学