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Priapulids are marine, free-living, benthic worms with an eversible proboscis; species vary in size from less than 1 mm to greater than 40 cm in length (Shirley and Storch 1999). Their range extends from the ocean trenches to intertidal beaches, and from the polar seas to the tropics . Sexes are separate, and sexual dimorphism is apparent in at least one family (Todaro and Shirley 2003). The life cycle includes a nonswimming, benthic, loricate larva that may last as long as 2 years. Early instars of Priapulus caudatus may be as small as 50 μm in length, and the larvae have at least 32 instars prior to metamorphosing into the adult morphology (Shirley 1990). The priapulids are ecdysozoans that share many morphological traits with the phyla Kinorhyncha and Loricifera, and commonly are included within the group Scalidophora. A few systematists ally the phyla Priapulida, Kinorhyncha, Loricifera, and Nematomorpha within the phylum Cephalorhyncha (Adrianov and Malakhov 1996). The priapulids are typically considered rare and treated summarily in invertebrate texts, such that most invertebrate biologists are unfamiliar with the taxon. However, in some habitats priapulids can be abundant (Shirley 1990), important components of the diet of marine mammals (Fay 1982, Fay et al. 1984) and structure benthic communities (Aarnio, Bonsdorff, and Norkko 1998). Prior to 1968, all 7 known priapulid species in the world were macrobenthic and primarily from cold, deepwater habitats (Land 1970). Since 1968, the number of priapulids has increased to 19, with most new species being meiofauna in size and primarily from intertidal sands or shallow , tropical waters (Shirley and Storch 1999, Todaro and Shirley 2003). Undescribed species of priapulids from the Canary Islands, Hawaii, and Gulf of Mexico await description (T. Shirley, unpublished data), and undoubtedly many other species exist. Some priapulid species prosper in hypoxic and anoxic soft sediments and persist under elevated sulfide levels, often at high population abundance (Oescher and Vetter 1992). Halicryptus spinulosus has a remarkable anaerobic capacity (Oeschger 1990) and has been a predominant member of the macrobenthos in the western Baltic (Aarnio, Bonsdorff, and Norkko 1998). Priapulids might be expected to prosper in areas of the northern Gulf of Mexico subject to hypoxia. Priapulids were not included in the original Bulletin 89, and no priapulid species from the Gulf of Mexico 1125 62 Priapulida of the Gulf of Mexico Thomas C. Shirley  Priapulida. After Hyman 1951. 1126 ~ Priapulida G. S. Boland, and J. S. Baker. 1985. Southwest Florida Shelf Benthic Communities Study. Year 4 Annual Report, Volume 1, Report 85-0073 for the U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region. 4. Fay, F. H. 1982. Ecology and Biology of the Pacific Walrus, Odobenus rosmarus divergens Iliger. North American Fauna, Number 74. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 5. Fay, F. H., Y. A. Bukhtiyarov, S. W. Stoker, and L. M. Shults. 1984. Foods of the Pacific walrus in winter and spring in the Bering Sea. Pp. 81–88 in F. H. Fay and G. A. Fedoseev, eds. Soviet-American Cooperative Research on Marine Mammals. Vol. 1—Pinnipeds. NOAA Technical Report Series, National Marine Fisheries Service 12. 6. Kirsteuer, E., and J. van der Land. 1970. Some notes on Tubiluchus corallicola (Priapulida) from Barbados, West Indies. Marine Biology 7: 230–238. 7. Land, J. van der. 1968. A new aschelmin, probably related to the Priapulida. Zoologische Mededelingen, Leiden 42: 237–250. 8. Land, J. van der. 1970. Systematics, zoogeography, and ecology of the Priapulida. Zoologische Verhandelingen 112: 1–118. 9. Oescher, R. 1990. Long-term anaerobiosis in sublittoral marine invertebrates from the western Baltic Sea: Halicryptus spinulosus (Priapulida), Astarte borealis and Arctica islandica (Bivalvia). Marine Ecology Progress Series 59: 133–143. 10. Oescher, R., and R. D. Vetter. 1992. Sulfide detoxification and tolerance in Halicryptus spinulosus (Priapulida): a multiple strategy. Marine Ecology Progress Series 86: 167–179. 11. Shirley, T. C. 1990. Ecology of Priapulus caudatus Lamarck, 1816 (Priapulida) in an Alaskan subartic ecosystem. Bulletin of Marine Science 47: 149–158. 12. Shirley, T. C., and V. Storch. 1999. Halicryptus higginsi n. sp. (Priapulida)—a giant new species from Barrow, Alaska. Invertebrate Biology 118(4): 404–413. 13. Todaro, M. A., and T. C. Shirley. 2003. A new meiobenthic priapulid (Priapulida Tubiluchidae) from a Mediterranean submarine cave. Italian Journal of Zoology 70: 79–87. havebeenincludedinpublicationssince.However,priapulids do occur in the Gulf of Mexico and have been reported from faunal surveys, but most have not been identified to less than...

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