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The Sipuncula or Sipunculida, sipunculid worms or peanut worms, are a containing 144-320 species (estimates vary) of bilaterally symmetrical, unsegmented marine worms. Sipunculid worm jelly (???) is a delicacy in the town of Xiamen in Fujian province of China.

History

The first species of this phylum was described in 1827 by the French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville who named it the name Sipunculus vulgaris. A related species was later described as Golfingia macintoshii by E. Ray Lankester. The specimen was provided by a friend of his Professor Mackintosh. The specimen was dissected by Lankester between rounds of golf at Saint Andrews golf club in Scotland from which the species derives its name. Golfingia is now the genus name and Sipuncula the name of the phylum to which these worms belong.

Habitat

Sipunculids are relatively common, and live in shallow waters, either in burrows or in discarded shells like hermit crabs do. Some bore into solid rocks to make a shelter for themselves. Although typically less than 10 cm long, some sipunculans may reach several times that length.

Anatomy

The most recognizable part of Sipunculan worms is their mouth, which is surrounded by a mass of 18 - 24 tentacles, all of which may be inverted into the body. There is no segmentation or septa present in Sipunculans. Their body consists of an introvert (proboscis) and a trunk, the introvert being retractable into the trunk. The digestive tract of Sipunculans passes from the mouth to the posterior end of the body, before twisting back around itself and ending at the anus, on the dorsal side of the body. The anus is often not visible when the introvert is retracted into the trunk. A few taxa possess a calcified plate called the anal shield. Sipunculans have a coelom. However, they do not have a vascular blood system. Instead, interstitial fluid transports oxygen and nutrients around the body. A separate cavity fills the hollow tentacles; it passes oxygen from the tentacles to the coelom. The body wall is strong and muscular; when threatened, Sipunculids can retract their body into a shape resembling a peanut kernel - a practice that has given rise to the name "Australian peanut worm".

Reproduction

Both asexual and sexual reproduction can be found in Sipunculans, although asexual reproduction is uncommon. Sipunculans reproduce asexually via transverse fission followed by regeneration of vital body components. As for sexual reproduction, Sipunculans are dioecious. Thei r gametes are produced in the coelomic lining, where they are released into the coelom to mature. These gametes are then picked up by the metanephridial system and released into the aquatic environment. Fertilization in Sipunculans is external. Once male and female matured gametes meet, a trochopore larva develops followed in turn by a pelagosphera larva, then a juvenile form and finally into an adult.

Relationships

The phylogenetic placement of this phylum in the past has proved troublesome. Originally classified as annelids, despite the complete lack of segmentation, bristles and other annelid characters, the phylum Sipuncula was later allied with the Mollusca, mostly on the basis of developmental and larval characters. Currently these two phyla have been included in a larger group, the Lophotrochozoa, that also includes the annelids, the ribbon worms and several ot her phyla. Analysis of the mitochondrion's DNA has since revealed that the Sipuncula are clearly related to the Myzostomida and Annelida (including echiurans and pogonophorans).^[1]

Fossil Record

The fossil record of the Sipuncula is, not surprisingly for soft-bodied animals, sparse. Some scientists, however, consider that hyoliths, operculate shells from the Palaeozoic may be related to the sipunculids, with the only remnant of the shell in extant forms being the anal plate.

Even excluding hyoliths, fossils of sipunculans are known extending back to the Cambrian Period. Fossils of the genera Archaeogolfingia and Cambrosipunculus from China are not drastically different from members of the Sipunculidea living today. ^[2]

Species

• Golfingia minuta
• Golfingia vulgaris
• Phascolosoma arcuata
• Phascolosoma cumanense Keferstein 1867
• Phascolosoma esculenta
• Phascolosoma lurco
• Sipunculus nudus
• Sipunculus robustus

The Phylum Sipuncula is a member of the Superphylum Eutrochozoa. Here is the complete "parentage" of Sipuncula:

• Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
  • Kingdom: Animalia Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
    • Subkingdom: Bilateria (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
      • Branch: Protostomia Grobben, 1908 - protostomes
        • Infrakingdom: Lophotrochozoa - Lophotrochozoans
          • Superphylum: Eutrochozoa
            • Phylum: Sipuncula (Raffinesque, 1814) Sedgwick, 1898 - Peanut Worms