Gnathostomulids are small wormlike animals found in marine sediments worldwide. They have distinctive forceps-like jaws in their pharynx. With transparent bodies up to 1mm long, they have a head, trunk, and sometimes a small tail. As acoelomate bilateral animals, they have a mouth but no anus. Gnathostomulids live in intertidal and deep sea sediments, reproducing through mutual cross-fertilization. They feed by scraping bacteria and fungi from sediments using their pharyngeal jaws and move by gliding, swimming in loops and spirals, or bending their heads.

1. By: Emelyn S. BaribarBy: Emelyn S. Baribar

2. GNATHOSTOMULIDGNATHOSTOMULID
AA•Comes from two Greek
root word: Gnathos-
Jaw and Stoma-Mouth.
Which means the
reference is jaw like
structure in the pharynx.
•Common name is "jaw
worm" or sometimes,
"sand worm,"

3. GENERAL DESCRIPTIONGENERAL DESCRIPTION
 Wormlike animals
 Measure 0.5 to 1 millimeters in length
 They are slender to thread like worms, with a
transparent body
 Some have a distinct head, trunk and tail phylum
characterized by distinctive forceps-like jaws.
 Acoelomate Bilateral Animals
 They have mouth but no anus

4. The gnathostomulid
body can be
divided into a head
and a trunk, and in
some cases a small
offset tail.They can
endure low oxygen

5. Examples of GnathostomulidaExamples of Gnathostomulida
Haplognathia
gubbarnorum

6. Rastrognath
ia
macrostoma

7. Gnathostomula
paradoxa

9. HABITATHABITAT
Jaw worms are found worldwide
but the best studied areas are
Western Europe, Mediterranean
sea and the Pacific Ocean.
They live in interstitial spaces of
very fine coastal sediment and silt
from intertidal to depths of
several hundred meters
They are found in medium or
fined grained sand or from sea
grass beds.

10. REPRODUCTIONREPRODUCTION
They are
Hermaphrodites
engaging in mutual
cross-fertilization.
Each individual
possess a single ovary
and one or two testes.

12. LOCOMOTIONLOCOMOTION
They can glide,,
swim in loops and
spirals and bend
the head from
side to side.

13. MODE OF NUTRITIONMODE OF NUTRITION
Feed by scraping
bacteria and fungi
from the substratum
with a pair of jaw on
the pharynx.

14. Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Gnathostomulida
Class: Gnathostomulida
Higher Classification: Platyzoa
Rank: phylum
Order: Filospermoidea
Bursovaginoidea

15. The EndThe End
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