SYNOPTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYLUM PHORONIDA (HATSCHEK 1888)
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PHORONIDA LINKS
| The following information came from Margulis and Schwartz (1998), Buchsbaum (1938), Barnes (1980), Barnes (1984), Brusca and Brusca (2003), Hickman (1973), Meglitsch and Schramm (1991), Ruppert and Barnes (1991), Storer and Usinger (1965), and Tudge (2000). |
I. SYNONYMS: phoronids.
II. NUMBER: >14 species known.
III. PHYLUM CHARACTERISTICS:
- A. Structure
- Symmetry: Bilateral
- Body Cavity: True coelom. Internally, the body is divided into three regions: a small preoral lobe or epistome (text with tooltip) The epistome is a part of the head in different arthropods. It is the region behind the mouth in insects and between the antennae and the mouth in crustaceans. It also is the preoral lobe of phoronids and ectoprocts. that overhangs the mouth; a short mesosome (text with tooltip) The mesosome is a body region in phoronids that bears the lophophores. that bears the lophophore; and a long cylindrical trunk. The trunk, mesosome (and possibly epistome) all have enterocoelic (text with tooltip) Enterocoelic (adj.) describes the type of true coelom that develops from pockets growing from the archenteron. body cavities. The coelom runs into the tentacles of the lophophore.
- Body Covering: Outer epithelium that secretes and inhabits a chitinous tube.
- Support: Hydrostatic skeleton.
- Digestive System: Feeding by ciliated tentacular organ called a lophophore. Food tube U-shaped. Mouth in the center and the anus outside of lophophore.
- Circulatory System: Closed. Hemoglobin in corpuscles.
- Locomotion: Animals sedentary, inhabiting a tube in the sediment; tentacles covered with cilia to move water.
- Excretory System: Metanephridia, but protonephridia (text with tooltip) Protonephridia (protonephridium, sing.) are excretory organs that are ciliated tubules. The flame cell lies at the internal terminus ciliated tubule. in larvae.
- Nervous System: Anterior nerve ring around the mouth and a single lateral nerve.
- Endocrine System: None.
- B. Reproduction:
- Reproductive System: Hermaphroditic, external fertilization.
- Development: Zygote develops by radial cleavage and forms a planktonic actinotroch larva that can reproduce asexually.
- C. Ecology: Benthic marine organisms. Filter-feeders as adults.
| LITERATURE CITED Barnes, R. D. 1980. Invertebrate Zoology. Saunders College/Holt, Rinehart and Wilson, Philadelphia. Barnes. R. S. K. 1984a. Kingdom Animalia. IN: R. S. K. Barnes, ed. A Synoptic Classification of Living Organisms. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA. pp. 129-257. Brusca, R. C. and G. J. Brusca. 2003. Invertebrates. Sinauer Associates, Inc. Sunderland, Mass. Buchsbaum, R. 1938. Animals Without Backbones, An Introduction to the Invertebrates. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago. Giribet, G., C. W. Dunn, G. D. Edgecombe, and G. W. Rouse. 2007. A modern look at the Animal Tree of Life. Zootaxa. 1668: 61-79. Hickman, C. P. 1973. Biology of the Invertebrates. The C. V. Mosby Company. Saint Louis. Margulis, L. and K. Schwartz. 1998. Five kingdoms, an illustrated guide to the phyla of life on earth. 3rd Edition. W. H. Freeman and Company. New York. Meglitsch, P. A. and F. R. Schramm. 1991. Invertebrate Zoology. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford. Nielsen, C. 2001. Animal Evolution: Interrelationships of the Living Phyla. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press. Oxford. Ruppert, E. E. and R. D. Barnes. 1994. Invertebrate Zoology. 6th edition. Saunders. Ft Worth, TX. Ruppert, E. E., R. S. Fox, and R. D. Barnes. 2004. Invertebrate Zoology: A Functional Evolutionary Approach. Seventh Edition. Thomson, Brooks/Cole. New York. pp. 1-963. Storer, T. I. and R. L. Usinger. 1965. General Zoology. 4th Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company. New York. Tudge, C. 2000. The Variety of Life, A Survey and a Celebration of all the Creatures That Have Ever Lived. Oxford University Press. New York. |
| By Jack R. Holt. Last revised: 01/28/2012 |
