Echinoderes is a genus of mud dragons first described in 1863.Sørensen, Martin Vinther, et al. "An exploration of Echinoderes (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) in Korean and neighboring waters, with the description of four new species and a redescription of E. tchefouensis Lou, 1934." Zootaxa 3368 (2012): 161-196. It is the largest genus within the phylum Kinorhyncha. It is a highly diverse genus, with member species that inhabit "most marine benthic substrates, on latitudes ranging from the Arctic to the tropics, and from the intertidal zone down to the deep sea." Species on the east coasts of North and South America have been extensively studied by Robert P. Higgins. Species in east Asia have been extensively studied by A. V. Adrianov.
Members of Echinoderes are sexually dimorphic.
Globally Echinoderes are the most diverse, abundant and commonly encountered of all kinorhynch genera. The number of described Echinoderes species has more than doubled since 2002 and it is still increasing in recent years.
Five genera, Echinoderes, Cephalorhyncha, Fissuroderes, Meristoderes, and Polacanthoderes, are currently recognized within the family Echinoderidae. The latter four genera are rather small and accommodate one to nine species only, whereas a vast majority of the diversity is contained in the Echinoderes, that holds more than 100 species.
Species 76 species are accepted within Echinoderes:
Echinoderes abbreviates Higgins, 1983 Echinoderes agigens Bacescu, 1968 Echinoderes andamanensis Higgins & Rao, 1979 Echinoderes angustus Higgins & Kristensen, 1988 Echinoderes applicitus Ostmann, Nordhaus & Sørensen, 2012 Echinoderes aquilonius Higgins & Kristensen, 1988 Echinoderes arlis Higgins, 1966 Echinoderes aspinosus Sørensen, Rho, Min, Kim & Chang, 2012 Echinoderes augustae Sørensen & Landers, 2014 Echinoderes aureus Adrianov, Murakami & Shirayama, 2002 Echinoderes bengalensis (Timm, 1958) Echinoderes bermudensis Higgins, 1982 Echinoderes bispinosus Higgins, 1982 Echinoderes bookhouti Higgins, 1964 Echinoderes brevicaudatus Higgins, 1977 Echinoderes canariensis Greeff, 1869 Echinoderes cantabricus Pardos, Higgins & Benito, 1998 Echinoderes capitatus (Zelinka, 1928) Echinoderes caribiensis Kirsteuer, 1964 Echinoderes cavernus Sørensen, Jörgensen & Boesgaard, 2000 Echinoderes cernunnos Sørensen, Rho, Min, Kim & Chang, 2012 Echinoderes citrinus Zelinka, 1928 Echinoderes collinae Sørensen, 2006 Echinoderes coulli Higgins, 1977 Echinoderes dujardinii Claparède, 1863 Echinoderes ehlersi Zelinka, 1913 Echinoderes elongatus (Nyholm, 1947) Echinoderes eximus Higgins & Kristensen, 1988 Echinoderes ferrugineus Zelinka, 1928 Echinoderes filispinosus Adrianov, 1989 Echinoderes gerardi Higgins, 1978 Echinoderes gizoensis Thormar & Sørensen, 2010 Echinoderes higginsi Huys & Coomans, 1989 Echinoderes hispanicus Pardos, Higgins & Benito, 1998 Echinoderes horni Higgins, 1983 Echinoderes imperforatus Higgins, 1983 Echinoderes intermedius Sørensen, 2006 Echinoderes isabelae GaOrdóñez, Pardos & Benito, 2008 Echinoderes kanni Thormar & Sørensen, 2010 Echinoderes koreanus Adrianov, 1999 in Adrianov & Malakhov, 1999 Echinoderes kozloffi Higgins, 1977 Echinoderes krishnaswamyi Higgins, 1985 Echinoderes kristenseni Higgins, 1985 Echinoderes lanceolatus Chang & Song, 2002 Echinoderes levanderi Karling, 1955 Echinoderes malakhovi Adrianov, 1999 in Adrianov & Malakhov, 1999 Echinoderes maxwelli (Omer-Cooper, 1957) Echinoderes microaperturus Sørensen, Rho, Min, Kim & Chang, 2012 Echinoderes multisetosus Adrianov, 1989 Echinoderes neospinosus GaOrdóñez, Pardos & Benito, 2008 Echinoderes newcaledoniensis Higgins, 1967 Echinoderes obtuspinosus Sørensen, Rho, Min, Kim & Chang, 2012 Echinoderes ohtsukaii Yamasaki & Kajihara, 2012 Echinoderes pacificus Schmidt, 1974 Echinoderes parrai GaOrdóñez, Pardos & Benito, 2008 Echinoderes pennaki Higgins, 1960 Echinoderes peterseni Higgins & Kristensen, 1988 Echinoderes pilosus Lang, 1949 Echinoderes remanei (Blake, 1930) Echinoderes rex Lundbye, Rho & Sørensen, 2011 Echinoderes riedli Higgins, 1966 Echinoderes sensibilis Adrianov, Murakami & Shirayama, 2002 Echinoderes setiger (Greeff, 1869) Echinoderes skipperae Sørensen & Landers, 2014 Echinoderes spinifurca Sørensen, Heiner & Ziemer, 2005 Echinoderes stockmani Adrianov, 1999 in Adrianov & Malakhov, 1999 Echinoderes subfuscus Zelinka, 1928 Echinoderes sublicarum Higgins, 1977 Echinoderes svetlanae Adrianov, 1999 in Adrianov & Malakhov, 1999 Echinoderes tchefouensis Lou, 1934 Echinoderes teretis Brown, 1999 in Adrianov & Malakhov, 1999 Echinoderes truncatus Higgins, 1983 Echinoderes tubilak Higgins & Kristensen, 1988 Echinoderes ulsanensis Adrianov, 1999 in Adrianov & Malakhov, 1999 Echinoderes wallaceae Higgins, 1983 Echinoderes worthingi Southern, 1914
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