Subclass TYPHLOCOELA Krumbach, 1925

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Introduction

The name Typhlocoela was first applied by Krumbach (1925: 939) for the cydippid ctenophores (e.g., Haeckelia, Cydippe (Pleurobrachia), Bathyctenia, Aulacotena and Tjalfiella). It was ignored until Ospovat (1985) applied the name to the orders Cydippida and Platyctenida, based on their common absence of a peristomal system of gastral canals.

The subclass as envisaged by Ospovat is unlikely to be widely adopted, because it groups the beroids with the remaining taxa, excluding the cydippids and platyctenids. The phylogenetic hypotheses generated by molecular analyses by Podar et al. (2001) suggest a closer relationship of the beroids to some of the cydippids than to other groups, with the Cydippida being paraphyletic or polyphyletic.

Diagnosis

Tentaculate ctenophores without peristomal system of gastral canals.

Diagnosis References

Ospovat, M. F. 1985. On phylogeny and classification of the type Ctenophora. Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 64(7): 965-974 [974]

General References

Krumbach, T. 1925. Ctenophora. pp. 905-995 in Kukenthal, W. & Krumbach, T. (eds). Handbuch der Zoologie. Berlin : W. de Gruyter Vol. 1.

Ospovat, M.F. 1985. On relationships between the orders Cryptolobiferida, Lobiferida and Thalassocalycida (Ctenophora). Zoologicheskii Zhurnal 64(6): 805-812

Podar, M., Haddock, S.H.D., Sogin, M. & Harbison, G.R. 2001. A molecular phylogenetic framework for phylum Ctenophora using 18S rRNA genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21: 218-230

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