Eoacanthocephala is a

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...

worm Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

s, within the

phylum In biology, a phylum (; : phyla) is a level of classification, or taxonomic rank, that is below Kingdom (biology), kingdom and above Class (biology), class. Traditionally, in botany the term division (taxonomy), division has been used instead ...

Acanthocephala Acanthocephala ( Greek , ' 'thorn' + , ' 'head') is a group of parasitic worms known as acanthocephalans, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses t ...

. They feed on any aquatic cold-blooded creature such as turtles and fish. Their proboscis spines are arranged radially, with no protonephridia, and with persistent ligament sacs in female. The only reliable way to identify the group is that they only have one cement gland. This is a primitive characteristic and hence the name. The class contains 2

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

: * Gyracanthocephala Van Cleave, 1936 * Neoechinorhynchida Southwell and Macfie, 1925

References

*Robert L. Usinger; Storer. 1951. General Zoology. Sixth edition. McGraw-Hill, Inc. Page-437.
ITIS - Report: Eoacanthocephala".
''www.itis.gov''. Retrieved 2022-10-15. Acanthocephalans {{Acanthocephalan-stub