Cycliophora, phylum Cycliophora

tiny marine organisms each the size of a period found in great numbers on lobsters' lips; identified tentatively in 1995 as a new phylum or as possible link between Entoprocta and Ectoprocta

• phylum — (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes

• Symbion pandora — only known species of Cycliophora; lives symbiotically attached to a lobster's lip by an adhesive disk and feeding by means of a hairy mouth ring; its complex life cycle includes asexual and sexual phases

• Animalia, kingdom Animalia, animal kingdom — taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct animals