Overview
Taxonomy
The Subphylum Eleutherozoa is a member of the Phylum Echinodermata. Here is the complete "parentage" of Eleutherozoa:
- Domain: Eukaryota
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Infrakingdom: Coelomopora
(Marcus, 1958) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum: Echinodermata
Klein, 1734 Ex De Brugière, 1789
- Subphylum: Eleutherozoa Bell, 1891
- Phylum: Echinodermata
Klein, 1734 Ex De Brugière, 1789
- Infrakingdom: Coelomopora
(Marcus, 1958) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
The Subphylum Eleutherozoa is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Infraphylum (2): Asterozoa · Echinozoa
- Class (4): Asteroidea · Echinoidea · Holothuroidea · Ophiuroidea
Classes
Asteroidea
Starfish (properly called sea stars) are any echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names "sea star" and "starfish" are also used in a broader sense to include the closely related brittle stars, which make up the class Ophiuroidea. [more]
Echinoidea
Sea urchins are small, globular, spiny sea creatures, composing most of class Echinoidea. They are found in oceans all over the world. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm across. Common colors include black and dull shades of green, olive, brown, purple, and red. They move slowly, feeding mostly on algae. Otters, wolf eels, and other predators feed on urchins. Sea urchins are harvested and served as a delicacy. [more]
Holothuroidea
The sea cucumber is an echinoderm of the class Holothuroidea, with an elongated body and leathery skin, which is found on the sea floor worldwide. It is so named because of its cucumber-like shape. The body contains a single, branched gonad. Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin, calcified structures that are usually reduced to isolated microscopic ossicles (or sclerietes) joined by connective tissue. These can sometimes be enlarged to flattened plates, forming an armour. In pelagic species (Order Elasipodida, family Pelagothuriidae), the skeleton is often absent. [more]
Ophiuroidea
At least 591 species and subspecies belong to the Class Ophiuroidea.
More info about the Class Ophiuroidea may be found here.
Sources
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