Siphonophorida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Siphonophorida Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| Illacme plenipes | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Myriapoda |
| Class: | Diplopoda |
| Subclass: | Chilognatha |
| Infraclass: | Helminthomorpha |
| Subterclass: | Colobognatha |
| Order: | Siphonophorida Newport, 1844 |
| Families | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Californizoniinae Verhoeff, 1941 | |
Siphonophorida (Greek for "tube bearer") is an order of millipedes containing two families and over 100 species.
Millipedes in the order Siphonophorida are long and worm-like, reaching up to 36 millimetres (1.4 in) in length and up to 190 body segments. Eyes are absent, and in many species the head is elongated into a long beak, with mandibles highly reduced. The beak may serve in a suctorial function. The body has a dense covering of fine setae. Each body segment consists of a dorsal tergite, two lateral pleurites, and ventral sternite, which are unfused. The male reproductive appendages (gonopods) are simple and leg-like, consisting of the ninth and 10th leg pairs. This lack of specialization has led to Siphonophorida being called a "taxonomist's nightmare",[1] and Jeekel (cited in[1]) jokingly gave the order the "taxonomists' award for least popular group among diplopods".[2]
Distribution
Siphonophorida occurs from southwestern USA to Brazil and Peru in the western hemisphere, as well as South Africa, India, southeast Asia and Australia.[3] The oldest fossil of the group is from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber, assignable to the extant genus Siphonophora.[4]
