Family BARENTSIIDAE Emschermann, 1972

Museums

Regional Maps

Introduction

After Wasson 2002
The family Barentsiidae is characterised by the division of the stalk into wide, flexible, muscular nodes and narrow, rigid, non-muscular rods that are often perforated by pores. An incomplete cuticular septum separates each node from the rod above it. There is a minimum of one basal node and one rod apical to it, but many species have multiple alternating nodes and rods, lending a segmented appearance to the stalk.

Five genera of barentsiids are recognised — Coriella, Pseudopedicellina, Pedicellinopsis and Urnatella (the sole freshwater form), and each contains a single species. Most of the roughly thirty known barentsiid species belong to the genus Barentsia. Five barentsiid species are known from Australia (Wasson 2002), four in the genus Barentsia and one in the genus Pedicellinopsis.

General References

Wasson, K. 2002. A review of the invertebrate phylum Kamptozoa (Entoprocta) and synopsis of kamptozoan diversity in Australia and New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 126(1): 1-20

History of changes