Horstia, Deland & Cameron & Rao & Ritter & Bullock, 2010

Deland, C., Cameron, C. B., Rao, K. P., Ritter, W. E. & Bullock, T. H., 2010, A taxonomic revision of the family Harrimaniidae (Hemichordata: Enteropneusta) with descriptions of seven species from the Eastern Pacific, Zootaxa 2408 (1), pp. 1-30 : 7

Genus Horstia n. gen.

Type species. Horstia kincaidi n. sp.

Diagnosis. Proboscis very short and round, hardly as long as broad. Longitudinal muscles arranged in radial plates. Proboscis pore present on right or left. Anterior neuropore present, and collar nerve cord with large lacunae. Peribuccal cavities absent. Gonads conspicuous as modules projecting prominently from surface, not forming ridges. Trunk cross section regular and nearly circular, with gill pores unusually prominent, even elevated slightly above general surface. No dorsal gonads.

Remarks. Horstia is monotypic and named for the late C. J. van der Horst of the University of Witwatersrand. It differs in at least three or four characters from the nearest genera ( Mesoglossus , Saccoglossus , Harrimania and Ritteria ). Horstia is provisionally defined by the foregoing selection of characters of its sole species H. kincaidi , which would otherwise have to be forced into one of these other genera, doing violence to what we believe are defining generic features. Further discoveries may reveal some further characters of generic rank in the species description in the section below.