Our view of how-many phyla relate to each other is being radically revised by molecular phylogenetics. For example, arthropods and annelids are no longer placed together, but are now considered to be in separate clades. The new tree has important ramifications for developmental biology and genomics.

A variety of chemical substances have been used to relax and/or immobilize polychaete worms, and other invertebrates, prior to specimen preparation for morphological examination. To solve difficulties encountered during the study of nereidid polychaetes (Annelida: Phyllodocida), an experiment was designed and carried out to investigate a new relaxing agent to immobilize nereidid specimens and s...

The paper presents the principle data regarding the presence and the roles of lectins and cytokines in invertebrates. The former have been described in the main invertebrate taxa, such molluscs, annelids, arthropods, echinoderms and tunicates, while convincing evidence for cytokines was found only in the insects, Drosophila melanogaster and Pseudaletia separata, and the freshwater crayfish, Pac...

For decades, inputs of nutrients and organic matter into the Mar Menor coastal lagoon have favored change from an original oligotrophic to a eutrophic state. The reached stage severe eutrophication “environmental collapse” during spring 2016. This paper describes massive growth Serpulidae (Annelida, Polychaeta) forming large aggregations reef structures after environmental collapse caused by cr...

In November 2012, a workshop was carried out on the taxonomy and systematics of the family Syllidae (Annelida: Phyllodocida) at the Dove Marine Laboratory, Cullercoats, Tynemouth, UK for the National Marine Biological Analytical Quality Control (NMBAQC) Scheme. Illustrated keys for subfamilies, genera and species found in British and Irish waters were provided for participants from the major na...

A new species of the snapping shrimp genus Alpheus Fabricius, 1798, Alpheus ikedosoma, is described and illustrated on the basis of material from Boso Peninsula and Ariake Sea, Japan. All examined specimens were extracted with the help of a bait suction pump from burrows of innkeeper worm (Annelida: Echiura), constructed on easily accessible intertidal sand beaches or sand flats. The host worm ...

A medium-sized nest of the Texas leafcutting ant, Atta texana (Buckley), in northern Louisiana was excavated completely, and a three-dimensional model of its external and subterranean features was constructed. In total, 97 fungus gardens, 27 dormancy cavities, and 45 detritus cavities were located. At the lower center of the funnel-shaped nest was a large central cavity, which in winter functio...

Recent advances in molecular phylogenetics and morphological cladistics have considerably changed the picture we had on the tree of life (e.g. see Refs [1–16]). In particular, the alteration of the evolutionary relationships between eukaryotic organisms have split some traditional clades (e.g. Protozoa, Protophyta, Acoelomata, Aschelmintha) into highly divergent new branches, and have gathered ...