''Diurodrilus'' is a genus of tiny marine animals classified as
orbiniid annelid worms
The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to variou ...
. With a maximum length of 0.45 mm, it has an unusual morphology with many traits not found in other annelids, including a ventral creeping foot.
Analyses of DNA have both refuted and supported placement within the annelids,
with the unusual morphology perhaps due to evolutionary
progenesis
Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny in modern humans is more signi ...
, in which organisms develop sexual maturity while retaining the larval traits of their ancestors.
The following species are recognised:
* ''
Diurodrilus minimus'' Remane, 1925
* ''
Diurodrilus ankeli'' Ax, 1967
* ''
Diurodrilus benazzii'' Gerlach, 1953
* ''
Diurodrilus dohrni'' Gerlach, 1952
* ''
Diurodrilus subterraneus'' Remane, 1934
* ''
Diurodrilus westheidei'' Kristensen & Niilonen, 1982
References
Annelids
{{Annelid-stub