Hatschek (1888) treated the Entoprocta as a division of his group Scolecida, characterized by the possession of a primary body-cavity and of protonephridia; while he placed the Ectoprocta, with the Phoronida and Brachiopoda, in a distinct group, the Tentaculata.
The development of Polygordius alone is well known, having been studied by Hatschek, Fraipont and others.
There appears to be little either in the development or in the structure of the Haplodrili to warrant the view held by Hatschek and Fraipont that Polygordius and Protodrilus are exceedingly primitive forms, ancestral to the whole group of seta-bearing Annelids (Oligochaeta, Polychaeta, Hirudinea and Echiuroidea).