Editing Loricifera (section)

{{Technical|date=April 2022}}
{{Short description|Phylum of tiny marine invertebrates}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Middle Cambrian|Recent|ref=<ref name=Peel-Stein-Kristensen-2013/>}}(total group)
| image = Pliciloricus enigmatus.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Pliciloricus enigmaticus]]'', illustration by [[Carolyn Bartlett Gast]]
| display_parents = 7
| taxon = Loricifera
| authority = [[Reinhardt Kristensen|Kristensen]], 1983<ref name=Kristensen-1983/>
| subdivision_ranks = Families
| subdivision = {{linked taxon list
| Nanaloricidae|
| Pliciloricidae|
| Urnaloricidae|}}
}}

'''Loricifera''' (from [[Latin]], ''[[wikt:lorica|lorica]]'', corselet (armour) + ''ferre'', to bear) is a [[phylum]] of very small to microscopic marine [[cycloneuralia]]n sediment-dwelling animals with 43 described species<ref name="Neves-Kirstensen-Møbjerg-2021"/> and approximately 100&nbsp;more that have been collected and not yet described.<ref name=Gad-2005/> Their sizes range from 100&nbsp;μm to {{nowrap|''ca.''{{tsp}}1 mm}}.<ref name=Heiner-2005/>

They are characterised by a protective outer case called a [[Lorica (biology)|lorica]] and their habitat is in the spaces between marine gravel to which they attach themselves. The phylum was discovered in 1983 by [[Reinhardt Kristensen|R.M. Kristensen]], near [[Roscoff]], [[France]].<ref name=Heiner-Kristensen-2005/> They are among the most recently discovered groups of animals.<ref name=Kristensen-2002/> They attach themselves quite firmly to the substrate, and hence remained undiscovered for so long.<ref name=Ruppert-Fox-Barnes-2004/> The first specimen was collected in the 1970s, and described in 1983.<ref name=Kristensen-2002/> They are found at all depths, in different sediment types, and in all latitudes.<ref name=Ruppert-Fox-Barnes-2004/>