Talk:Mermithida

The phylogeny depicted in this article "Mermithida" and the related article "Mermithidae" may be obsolete, in that these taxons are shown as being within the subclass Enoplia. A cladogram appearing in a January 2018 article by Leduc, Zhou, Verdon and Xu, titled "Phylogenetic Position of the Enigmatic Deep-sea Nematode Order Rhaptothyreida: A Molecular Analysis," seems to place Mermithida (and thus also Mermithidae) within Dorylaimia, and outside of Enoplia. The Leduc article is more recent than anything cited in either of these 2 Wikipedia articles. I think the Leduc article and this cladogram, including any sources supporting it, should be studied to see if the phylogeny of Mermithida (and Mermithidae) should be updated, or at least indicate a diversity of viewpoints.Ray Glock-Grueneich (talk) 03:17, 23 March 2018 (UTC)

The preceding comment was based on Figure 3 of Leduc et al. I have since read part of the text of Leduc et al, where they expressly confirm this relationship. The phylogeny shown in this article and the related Wikipedia article "Mermithidae" is also inconsistent with the Wikipedia article titled "List of Nematode Families." In summary, these articles correctly list Mermithida, and the latter article, Mermithidae, as within the class Enoplea, but incorrectly include Mermithida (and its included Mermithidae) with the subclass Enoplia. Mermithida is instead, according to Leduc and the Wikipedia article "List of Nematode Families" actually in the subclass Dorylaimia. Accordingly, I will make that correction now.Ray Glock-Grueneich (talk) 15:44, 24 March 2018 (UTC)