S A Maslakova, M Q Martindale, J L Norenburg
Nemerteans have been alleged to belong to a protostome clade called the Trochozoa that includes mollusks, annelids, sipunculids, echiurids, and kamptozoans and is characterized by, among other things, the trochophore larva. The trochophore possesses a prototroch, a preoral belt of specialized ciliary cells, derived from the trochoblast cells. Nemertea is the only trochozoan phylum for which presence of the trochophore larva possessing a prototroch had never been shown. However, so little is known about nemertean larval development that comparing it with development of other trochozoans is difficult...
July 2004: Evolution & Development