Balanoglossus
Genus of marine worm-like animals
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Through Invertebrate, Chordate and Marine life
Their heads are between 2.5 mm (1/10 in) and 5 mm (1/5 in) wide.
Discovery
Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz discovered Balanoglossus in 1825 on Mashail Island, and described it as a worm-like holothurian. The discovery of gill slits in these animals by Alexander Kovalevsky (1865) led to the creation of the class Enteropneusta by Carl Gegenbaur (1870).
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Classification
William Bateson (1885) originally included them in phylum Chordata. Hyman (1959), however, placed them near Echinodermata and gave Hemichordata a status of an independent phylum.
Habitat
Balanoglossus are burrowing, exclusively marine animals. They are found in shallow waters between tide marks along the coast of warm and temperate oceans.
Species
The World Register of Marine Species lists the following species:
- Balanoglossus apertus Spengel, 1893
- Balanoglossus aurantiaca Girard, 1853
- Balanoglossus australiensis Hill, 1894
- Balanoglossus biminiensis Willey, 1899
- Balanoglossus borealis Willey, 1899
- Balanoglossus capensis Gilchrist, 1908
- Balanoglossus carnosus Willey, 1899
- Balanoglossus clavigerus Delle Chiaje, 1829
- Balanoglossus gigas Müller in Spengel, 1893
- Balanoglossus hydrocephalus van der Horst, 1940
- Balanoglossus jamaicensis Willey, 1899
- Balanoglossus misakiensis Kuwano, 1902
- Balanoglossus natalensis Gilchrist, 1908
- Balanoglossus numeensis Maser, 1913
- Balanoglossus occidentalis Ritter, 1902
- Balanoglossus parvulus Punnett, 1903
- Balanoglossus proterogonius Belichov, 1928
- Balanoglossus robinii Giard, 1882
- Balanoglossus salmoneus Belichov, 1928
- Balanoglossus simodensis Miyamoto & Saito, 2007
- Balanoglossus stephensoni van der Horst, 1937
- Balanoglossus studiosorum van der Horst, 1940