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Lophotrochozoa

(Infrakingdom)

Overview

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An Infrakingdom in the Kingdom Animalia.

Taxonomy

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The Infrakingdom Lophotrochozoa is a member of the Branch Protostomia. Here is the complete "parentage" of Lophotrochozoa:

The Infrakingdom Lophotrochozoa is further organized into finer groupings including:

Phyla

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Annelida

The annelids, collectively called Annelida (from annelés "ringed ones", ultimately from Latin anellus "little ring"), are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches. They are found in marine environments from tidal zones to hydrothermal vents, in freshwater, and in moist terrestrial environments. Although most textbooks still use the traditional division into polychaetes (almost all marine), oligochaetes (which include earthworms) and leech-like species, research since 1997 has radically changed this scheme, viewing leeches as a sub-group of oligochaetes and oligochaetes as a sub-group of polychaetes. In addition, the Pogonophora, Echiura and Sipuncula, previously regarded as separate phyla, are now regarded as sub-groups of polychaetes. Annelids are considered members of the Lophotrochozoa, a "super-phylum" of protostomes that also includes molluscs, brachiopods, flatworms and nemerteans. [more]

Brachiopoda

Brachiopods (from brachium, arm + New Latin -poda, foot) are a small phylum of benthic invertebrates. Also known as lamp shells (or lampshells), "brachs" or Brachiopoda, they are sessile, two-valved, marine animals with an external morphology superficially resembling bivalves to which they are not closely related. Paleobiologists estimate that 99 percent of all documented brachiopod species are both fossils and extinct. [more]

Bryozoa

Bryozoans, also known as ectoprocts, are tiny colonial that generally build stony skeletons of calcium carbonate, superficially similar to coral (although some species lack any calcification in the colony and instead have a mucilaginous structure). Members of the phylum Bryozoa are known as "moss animals" or "moss animacules" (which is the literal translation of the Greek term ß?????a, "bryózoa") or as "sea mats". They generally prefer warm, tropical waters, but are known to occur worldwide. There are about 8,000 living species, with several times that number of fossil forms known. [more]

Echiura

The Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of animals. They are often considered to be a group of annelids, although they lack the segmented structure found in other members of that group, and so may also be treated as a separate phylum. However, phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences place echiurans and pogonophorans within the Annelida. The Echiura fossilise poorly and the earliest known specimen is from the Upper Carboniferous (called the Pennsylvanian in North America). However, U-shaped fossil burrows that could be Echiuran have been found dating back to the Cambrian. [more]

Entoprocta

Entoprocta (Gr. e?t??, entos inside + p???t??, proktos anus) is a of small aquatic animals, ranging in size from 0.5 mm to 5.0 mm. They have a lophophore, and as their name suggests, are distinguished from other lophophorates by the position of the anus inside the ring of cilia rather than outside. Other names include goblet worm and kamptozoan. [more]

Mollusca

Molluscs are animals belonging to the Mollusca. There are around 93,000 recognized extant species, making it the largest marine phylum with about 23% of all named marine organisms. Representatives of the phylum live in a huge range of habitats including marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Molluscs are a highly diverse group, in size, in anatomical structure, in behaviour and in habitat. [more]

Nemertea

Nemertea is a of invertebrate animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms. Most of the 1,400 or so species are marine, with a few living in fresh water and a small number of terrestrial forms; they are found in all marine habits, and throughout the world's oceans. Nemerteans are named for Nemertes, one of the Nereids of Greek mythology, and alternative spellings for the phylum have included Nemertini and Nemertinea. Libbie Hyman named them Rhynchocoela, a name used primarily in North America but gradually abandoned since the 1980s. [more]

Sipuncula

The Sipuncula or Sipunculida, sipunculid worms or peanut worms, are a containing 144-320 species (estimates vary) of bilaterally symmetrical, unsegmented marine worms. Sipunculid worm jelly (???) is a delicacy in the town of Xiamen in Fujian province of China. [more]

At least 469 species and subspecies belong to the Phylum Sipuncula.

More info about the Phylum Sipuncula may be found here.

Sources

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Last Revised: September 22, 2009
2009/09/22 23:30:54