Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 29, 2026

Cephalodiscida

Cephalodiscida is one of two orders in the class Pterobranchia, which are small, worm-shaped animals. Members belong to the hemichordates. Species in this order are sessile, living in clear water and secrete tubes on the ocean floor.

Last revised
Jun 29, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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Wikipedia ↗
Cephalodiscida
Temporal range:
Cephalodiscus dodecalophus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Hemichordata
Class: Pterobranchia
Order: Cephalodiscida
Fowler, 1892
Families
Synonyms
  • Cephalodiscoidea Beklemishev, 1951

Cephalodiscida is one of two orders in the class Pterobranchia, which are small, worm-shaped animals. Members belong to the hemichordates.23 Species in this order are sessile, living in clear water and secrete tubes on the ocean floor.4

Taxonomy

The following taxa are recognised in the order Cephalodiscida:156

  • Order Cephalodiscida Fowler, 1892
    • Family Cephalodiscidae Harmer, 1905
      • Genus Atubaria Sato, 1936
      • Genus Cephalodiscus M'Intosh, 1882
      • Genus †Aellograptus Obut, 1964
      • Genus †Eocephalodiscus Kozłowski, 1949
      • Genus †Melanostrophus Öpik, 1930
      • Genus †Pterobranchites Kozłowski, 1967
    • Family †Rotaciurcidae Briggs & Koch, 20236
References

References

  1. Maletz, Jörg; Gonzalez, Paul (2017-02-15). "Treatise Online no. 100: Part V, Second Revision, Chapter 14: Order Cephalodiscida: Introduction and systematic descriptions". Treatise Online. doi:10.17161/to.v0i0.6674. ISSN 2153-4012.
  2. animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Eol.org
  4. Shipley, A.E. (1902). Zoology: An Elementary Textbook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  5. Maletz, Jörg (2014). "The classification of the Pterobranchia (Cephalodiscida and Graptolithina)". Bulletin of Geosciences. 89 (3): 477–540. doi:10.3140/bull.geosci.1465. ISSN 1214-1119.
  6. Briggs, Derek E. G.; Koch, Nicolás Mongiardino (2023-12-04). "A Silurian pseudocolonial pterobranch". Current Biology. 33 (23): 5225–5232.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.024. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 37935193.
Further reading

Further reading

  • Harmer, S. F. (1905). "The Pterobranchia of the Siboga-expedition with an account of other species". Siboga Expedition Monograph. 26: 1–131.