Phylogenetic analysis of the Echinoderidae (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida)

The phylogeny of the kinorhynch family Echinoderidae is analyzed using morphological characters and parsimony as the optimization criterion. Thirty-six characters were coded in a matrix with eleven echinoderid terminals, representing all echinoderid genera and six non-echinoderid outgroup taxa. The ingroup includes Polacanthoderes martinezi and Cephalorhyncha liticola, newly described in a separate paper. The resulting most parsimonious trees support Polacanthoderes as the most basal echinoderid genus, followed by an unresolved clade with non-monophyletic Fissuroderes and monophyletic Cephalorhyncha and Echinoderes.