Most significant new parasite
- Who
- Symbion pandora
- When
- December 1995
Many new species of new parasite are discovered every year but none was more zoologically significant than a microscopic ectoparasite known as Symbion pandora discovered just before December 1995.
This discovery is significant for two reasons. The first is its unusual location. It was discovered on the bristles surrounding the mouth of the Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) which can be caught off the Kattegat Straits between Sweden and Denmark.
The second is that it could not be classified in any existing species or phylum category. There are over 1.5 million known species in the world which are all classified into approximately 35 phyla. These include the chordates (all vertebrates such as man), molluscs (such as snails) and arthropods (joint limbed creatures such as insects). Symbion pandora was so unusual that it could not be classified into any of these existing phyla and therefore a new one was suggested called Cycliophora. This comes from the Greek derivative referring to the organism's circular mouth ring.
The second is that it could not be classified in any existing species or phylum category. There are over 1.5 million known species in the world which are all classified into approximately 35 phyla. These include the chordates (all vertebrates such as man), molluscs (such as snails) and arthropods (joint limbed creatures such as insects). Symbion pandora was so unusual that it could not be classified into any of these existing phyla and therefore a new one was suggested called Cycliophora. This comes from the Greek derivative referring to the organism's circular mouth ring.