These species (e.g., M. glabrum, M. cirriferum) are basic annelids, which have obtained a very strange shape, while they have developed to sucking parasites on the surface of Echinodermata (sea stars, crinoids, etc.), but also on corals or sponges. Within the class Myzostomida, there are two orders: Proboscidea and Pharyngidea. In general about 170 species are described, which all have a dorsoventrally flattened body within general ten pairs of marginal cirri. Often they possess five pairs of legs or parapodia, which all possess a protrudable hook. The family Myzostomida comprises about 100 species among which the species Myzostoma cirriferum and M. glabrum occur in the Mediterranean Sea. The single individual is either male or female and measures as adults 0.6–1 mm in diameter in M. cirriferum and up to 1 cm in M. glabrum.
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Further Reading
Beard J (1884) On the life history and development of the genus Myzostoma. Mittheilungen Zool Station Neapel 5:544–580
Zrzary J (2001) The interrelationships of metazoan parasites: a review of phylum and higher level hypotheses from recent morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Folia Parasitol 48:81–103
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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Myzostoma species. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4767-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_4767-1
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