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, feeding by scraping bacteria and fungi from the substrate with their pharyngeal jaws. They are hermaphrodites that reproduce through mutual cross-fertilization.