Gnathifera (clade)

Gnathifera; Temporal range:
	Pseudosagitta maxima (Chaetognatha)
	Brachionus quadridentatus (Rotifera)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Clade:	Bilateria
Clade:	Nephrozoa
(unranked):	Protostomia
(unranked):	Spiralia
Clade:	Gnathifera; Ahlrichs, 1995
Phyla
	Gnathostomulida; Micrognathozoa; Syndermata (Rotifera) including Acanthocephala; ; Chaetognatha; †Amiskwia (not placed in a phylum); †Timorebestia (stem-chaetognath); †Inquicus; †Nectocarididae?; †Dakorhachis (stem-gnathiferan);

Gnathifera (from the Greek gnáthos, “jaw”, and the Latin -fera, “bearing”) is a clade of generally small spiralians characterized by complex jaws made of chitin. It comprises the phyla Gnathostomulida, Rotifera and Micrognathozoa.^[1] Chaetognatha has recently been recognised as closely related to the group, with it either being included within Gnathifera^[1] or the broader group Chaetognathifera.^[2]

Gnathiferans include some of the most abundant phyla. Rotifers are among the most diverse and abundant freshwater animals and chaetognaths are among the most abundant marine plankton.^[3]^[4]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference marletaz19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Park, Tae-Yoon S.; Nielsen, Morten Lunde; Parry, Luke A.; Sørensen, Martin Vinther; Lee, Mirinae; Kihm, Ji-Hoon; Ahn, Inhye; Park, Changkun; de Vivo, Giacinto; Smith, M. Paul; Harper, David A. T.; Nielsen, Arne T.; Vinther, Jakob (2024-01-05). "A giant stem-group chaetognath". Science Advances. 10 (1): eadi6678. Bibcode:2024SciA...10I6678P. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi6678. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 10796117. PMID 38170772.
^ Cite error: The named reference suga07 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference longhurst85 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[marletaz19-1] Cite error: The named reference marletaz19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] Park, Tae-Yoon S.; Nielsen, Morten Lunde; Parry, Luke A.; Sørensen, Martin Vinther; Lee, Mirinae; Kihm, Ji-Hoon; Ahn, Inhye; Park, Changkun; de Vivo, Giacinto; Smith, M. Paul; Harper, David A. T.; Nielsen, Arne T.; Vinther, Jakob (2024-01-05). "A giant stem-group chaetognath". Science Advances. 10 (1): eadi6678. Bibcode:2024SciA...10I6678P. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi6678. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 10796117. PMID 38170772.

[suga07-3] Cite error: The named reference suga07 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[longhurst85-4] Cite error: The named reference longhurst85 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Gnathifera Temporal range:

Pseudosagitta maxima (Chaetognatha)

Brachionus quadridentatus (Rotifera)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Clade:	Bilateria
Clade:	Nephrozoa
(unranked):	Protostomia
(unranked):	Spiralia
Clade:	Gnathifera Ahlrichs, 1995
Phyla
Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Syndermata (Rotifera) including Acanthocephala Chaetognatha †Amiskwia (not placed in a phylum) †Timorebestia (stem-chaetognath) †Inquicus †Nectocarididae? †Dakorhachis (stem-gnathiferan)