Kinorhyncha Identification Key

Update info.

2024/Jun./18 The new key for the other kinorhynchs (Kinorhyncha except for Echinoderidae and Pycnophyidae) has been launched.

2023/Feb./17 All the information published before 2022 uploaded.

2022/Feb./02 The link to the database in the starter (Echinoderidae.ink) has been changed. Please re-download the starter and use the new one.

2021/Jun./21 All the information published before 2020 + Grzelak et al. (2021) in Frontiers in Marine Science added.

About the key

An interactive identification key to kinorhynch taxa was firstly created for the family Echinoderidae by Dr Hiroshi Yamasaki (Kyushu University; previously in Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity), Dr Maria Herranz (Natural History Museum of Denmark) & Dr Martin V. Sørensen (Natural History Museum of Denmark) with a support of SYNTHESIS project.

Subsequently, the second key for the kinorhynch taxa except for Echinoderidae and Pycnophyidae is created by Dr Martin V. Sørensen & Dr Hiroshi Yamasaki.

We hope this tool will be used broadly by students, kinorhynchologists, meiobenthologists, and all who are inretested in Kinorhyncha.

Both the keys can be used under the Intkey program of the DELTA (DEscription Language for TAxonomy) package.

Please also see the following papers, and cite them in your manuscript when you use the key(s) during your study.: 

• Yamasaki H, Herranz M & Sørensen MV (2020) An interactive identification key to species of Echinoderidae (Kinorhyncha). Zoologischer Anzeiger 287: 14-16 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2020.05.002 )

• Sørensen MV & Yamasaki H (2024) An interactive identification key to species of the kinorhynch orders Kentrorhagata, Xenosomata, and Anomoirhaga. Zoologischer Anzeiger [available online] (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2024.06.003)

How to use

• 1. Prior to using the interactive key(s), users should download and install the Intkey program in your computer.

     • The original program supports only Windows users, and is available at http://delta-intkey.com/www/programs.htm.

     • The newer version of the program "open-DELTA" supports Windows, Mac OS, and Linux users, and can be downloaded from http://downloads.ala.org.au/p/Open%20DELTA.

  2. An interactive keys

     • The starter for the Echinoderidae key (Echinoderidae.ink) can be downloaded from here.

     • The starter for the other kinorhynchs (Kinorhyncha except for Echinoderidae and Pycnophyidae) can be downloaded from here.