Article: Phylogenetic position of the dicyemid mesozoa inferred from 18s rDNA sequences.

Introduction

The dicyemids are simply organized multicellular animals consisting of an outer layer of 20-40 ciliated somatic cells and an inner core of one long axial cell. They are obligate symbionts in the kidney of cephalopods. Their life cycle is complex; the asexually produced vermiform embryos increase the population in the host, while the infusoriform embryos arising from fertilized eggs pass out of the host body with the urine and are thought to infect another cephalopod host (Brusca and Brusca, 1990).

The dicyemid mesozoans have long been the subject of a phylogenetic controversy (Brusca and Brusca, 1990; Willmer, 1990). They were at first ...

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