Editing Symbion (section)

== Taxonomy ==
{{See also|List of bilaterial animal orders}}

''Symbion pandora'' was discovered in 1995 by [[Reinhardt Kristensen]] and [[Peter Funch]]<ref name="KF">{{cite journal |author1=P. Funch  |author2=R. M. Kristensen  |name-list-style=amp |year=1995 |title=Cycliophora is a new phylum with affinities to Entoprocta and Ectoprocta |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=378 |pages=711–714 |doi=10.1038/378711a0 |issue=6558|bibcode=1995Natur.378..711F |s2cid=4265849 }}</ref> on the mouthparts of the [[Norway lobster]] (''Nephrops norvegicus''). Other, related, species have since been discovered on:
*  the [[American lobster]] (''Homarus americanus'', host to ''[[Symbion americanus]]'')<ref>{{cite journal |author1=M. Obst |author2=P. Funch |author3=G. Giribet |name-list-style=amp |year=2005 |title=Hidden diversity and host specificity in cycliophorans: a phylogeographic analysis along the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea |journal=[[Molecular Ecology]] |volume=14 |pages=4427–4440 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02752.x |pmid=16313603 |issue=14 |s2cid=26920982 }}</ref><ref name="pmid18937332">{{cite journal |vauthors=Neves RC, Kristensen RM, Wanninger A |title=Three-dimensional reconstruction of the musculature of various life cycle stages of the cycliophoran Symbion americanus |journal=J. Morphol. |volume=270 |issue=3 |pages=257–70 |date=March 2009 |pmid=18937332 |doi=10.1002/jmor.10681|s2cid=206090614 }}</ref>
* the [[European lobster]] (''Homarus gammarus'', host to an as yet unnamed species of ''Symbion'')

The [[genus]] is so named because of its [[Commensalism|commensal relationship]] with the lobster (a form of [[symbiosis]]) &ndash; it feeds on the leftovers from the lobster's own meals.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=P. Funch |author2=P. Thor  |author3=M. Obst  |name-list-style=amp |year=2008 |title=Symbiotic relations and feeding biology of ''Symbion pandora'' (Cycliophora) and ''Triticella flava'' (Bryozoa) |journal=[[Vie et Milieu]] |volume=58 |pages=185–188 }}</ref>

They are peculiar microscopic [[animal]]s, with no obvious close relatives, which were therefore given their own [[phylum (biology)|phylum]], called '''Cycliophora'''. The phylogenetic position of ''Symbion'' is still not finally settled. Currently it is placed in the clade Polyzoa along with the phyla [[Ectoprocta]] and [[Entoprocta]], based on genetic analysis.<ref>[https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/phyla-of-tiny-filter-feeders-find-a-new-spot-on-the-tree-of-life-70193 Phyla of Tiny Filter Feeders Find a New Spot on the Tree of Life]</ref>