GEPHYREA, the name used for several groups of worm-like animals with certain resemblances but of doubtful affinity. W. C. McIntosh followed the accepted view in associating in this group the Echiuridae, Sipunculidae, and Priapulidae. E. Ray Lankester, in the preface to the English translation of C. Gegenbaur's Com parative Anatomy (1878) added the Phoronidae to these forms. The old group Gephyrea is now broken up into Echiuroidea (q.v.), which are modified Annelids; the Sipunculoidea (q.v.), an inde pendent group of doubtful affinity; the Priapuloidea (q.v.), also of doubtful affinity; and the Phoronidea.
