International Association of Meiobenthologists
What Is Meiobenthology?
Meiobenthology is the study of small benthic metazoans that pass through a 0.500 mm sieve and are retained on a 0.063 (or 0.045 mm) sieve. The majority of recognized phyla have meiofaunal representatives. Comprehensive accounts on meiofauna are given in Higgins and Thiel (1988) and Giere (1993).
A List of Meiofaunal Taxa
Currently, 20 phyla (bold) considered to be meiofaunal (1) from the 34 recognized phyla of the Kingdom Animalia. Out of these 20 phyla, only five are exclusively meiofaunal (italics). (Modified from Robert Higgins, pers. comm.)
|
Phyla |
Free-living |
Symbiotic |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine | Freshwater | Terrestrial | ||
| Porifera | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Placozoa | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Cnidaria | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Ctenophora | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Platyhelminthes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Orthonectida | No | No | No | Endemic (Marine) |
| Rhombozoa | No | No | No | Endemic (Marine) |
| Cycliophora | No | No | No | Endemic (Marine) |
| Acanthocephala | No | No | No | Endemic |
| Nemertea | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nematomorpha | No | No | No | Endemic |
| Gnathostomulida | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Kinorhyncha | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Loricifera | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Nematoda | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rotifera | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gastrotricha | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Entoprocta | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Priapulida | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Pogonophora | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Echiura | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Sipuncula | Yes | No | No | No |
| Annelida | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Arthropoda (Copepoda, Halacaroidea, Ostracoda, Mystacocarida, Tantulocarida) |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tardigrada | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Onychophora | No | No | Endemic | No |
| Mollusca | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Phoronida | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Bryozoa | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Brachiopoda | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Echinodermata | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Chaetognatha | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Hemichordata | Endemic | No | No | No |
| Chordata | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
(1) Two more phyla of the Kingdom Protoctista (Sarcomastigophora and Ciliophora) have meiofaunal representatives.
Suggested reading:
Higgins, R.P., Thiel, H. (1988). Introduction to the study of meiofauna. Smithsonian Institution Press.
Giere, O. (1993). Meiobenthology: The microscopic fauna in aquatic sediments. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Margulis, L., Schwartz, K.V., and Dolan, M. (1994). The Illustrated Five Kingdoms: A Guide to the Diversity of Life on Earth. Harper Collins College Publishers.