Epidermis (zoology)

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In zoology, the epidermis is an epithelium (sheet of cells) that covers the body of a eumetazoan (animal more complex than a sponge). [1] [2] Eumetazoa have a cavity lined with a similar epithelium, the gastrodermis, which forms a boundary with the epidermis at the mouth. [2]

Sponges have no epithelium, and therefore no epidermis or gastrodermis. [2] The epidermis of a more complex invertebrate is just one layer deep, and may be protected by a non-cellular cuticle. The epidermis of a higher vertebrate has many layers, and the outer layers are reinforced with keratin and then die. [3]

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Bryozoa Phylum of colonial aquatic invertebrates called moss animals

Bryozoa are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about 0.5 millimetres long, they have a special feeding structure called a lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles used for filter feeding. Most marine bryozoans live in tropical waters, but a few are found in oceanic trenches and polar waters. The bryozoans are classified as the marine bryozoans (Stenolaemata), freshwater bryozoans (Phylactolaemata), and mostly-marine bryozoans (Gymnolaemata), a few members of which prefer brackish water. 5,869 living species are known. One genus is solitary; all the rest are colonial.

Gnathostomulids, or jaw worms, are a small phylum of nearly microscopic marine animals. They inhabit sand and mud beneath shallow coastal waters and can survive in relatively anoxic environments. They were first recognised and described in 1956.

Nemertea Phylum of invertebrates, ribbon worms

Nemertea is a phylum of animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms. Most ribbon worms are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many have patterns of yellow, orange, red and green coloration. The foregut, stomach and intestine run a little below the midline of the body, the anus is at the tip of the tail, and the mouth is under the front. A little above the gut is the rhynchocoel, a cavity which mostly runs above the midline and ends a little short of the rear of the body. All species have a proboscis which lies in the rhynchocoel when inactive but everts to emerge just above the mouth to capture the animal's prey with venom. A highly extensible muscle in the back of the rhynchocoel pulls the proboscis in when an attack ends. A few species with stubby bodies filter feed and have suckers at the front and back ends, with which they attach to a host.

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Seisonidae is a family of rotifers, found on the gills of Nebalia, a marine crustacean. Peculiar among rotifers, males and females are both present and equal in size. Males and females are similar with paired gonads. It is considered to have diverged from the other rotifers early on, and in one treatment is placed in a separate class Seisonoidea. They have a large and elongate body with reduced corona. Their muscular system is similar to that of other rotifers: They have longitudinal muscles as well as open annular muscles.

Entoprocta Phylum of aquatic invertebrates

Entoprocta, or Kamptozoa, is a phylum of mostly sessile aquatic animals, ranging from 0.1 to 7 millimetres long. Mature individuals are goblet-shaped, on relatively long stalks. They have a "crown" of solid tentacles whose cilia generate water currents that draw food particles towards the mouth, and both the mouth and anus lie inside the "crown". The superficially similar Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) have the anus outside a "crown" of hollow tentacles. Most families of entoprocts are colonial, and all but 2 of the 150 species are marine. A few solitary species can move slowly.

Choanocyte

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Turbellaria Class of flatworms

The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from 1 mm (0.039 in) to large freshwater forms more than 500 mm (20 in) long or terrestrial species like Bipalium kewense which can reach 600 mm (24 in) in length. All the larger forms are flat with ribbon-like or leaf-like shapes, since their lack of respiratory and circulatory systems means that they have to rely on diffusion for internal transport of metabolites. However, many of the smaller forms are round in cross section. Most are predators, and all live in water or in moist terrestrial environments. Most forms reproduce sexually and with few exceptions all are simultaneous hermaphrodites.

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<i>Phaeacius</i> Genus of spiders

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Phoronid Phylum of marine animals, horseshoe worms

Phoronids are a small phylum of marine animals that filter-feed with a lophophore, and build upright tubes of chitin to support and protect their soft bodies. They live in most of the oceans and seas, including the Arctic Ocean but excluding the Antarctic Ocean, and between the intertidal zone and about 400 meters down. Most adult phoronids are 2 cm long and about 1.5 mm wide, although the largest are 50 cm long.

Phylactolaemata Order of moss animals

Phylactolaemata is a class of the phylum Bryozoa whose members live only in freshwater environments. Like all bryozoans, they filter feed by means of an extensible "crown" of ciliated tentacles called a lophophore, and like nearly all bryozoans, they live in colonies, each of which consists of clones of the founding member. Unlike those of some marine bryozoans, phylactolaemate colonies consist of only one type of zooid, the feeding forms known as autozooids. These are supported by an unmineralized "exoskeleton" made of gelatinous material or protein, secreted by the zooids. The class contains only one extant order, Plumatellida.

A follicle is a small, spherical or vase-like group of cells enclosing a cavity in which some other structure grows or other material is contained. Thyroid follicles make up the thyroid gland. Follicles are best known as the sockets from which hairs grow in humans and other mammals, but the bristles of annelid worms also grow from such sockets.

Operculum (animal)

An operculum is an anatomical feature, a stiff structure resembling a lid or a small door that opens and closes, and thus controls contact between the outside world and an internal part of an animal. Examples include:

Cydippida Order of comb jellies with retractable branched tentacles

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Statoblast

Statoblasts are a means to reproduce asexually by a method that is unique among bryozoans and enables a colony's lineage to survive the variable and uncertain conditions of freshwater environments. Statoblasts are masses of cells that function as "survival pods" rather like the gemmules of sponges. Statoblasts form on the funiculus (cord) connected to the parent's gut, which nourishes them. As they grow, statoblasts develop protective bivalve-like shells made of chitin. When they mature, some types stick to the parent colony, some fall to the bottom, some contain air spaces that enable them to float, and some remain in the parent's cystid to re-build the colony if it dies. Statoblasts can remain dormant for considerable periods, and while dormant can survive harsh conditions such as freezing and desiccation. They can be transported across long distances by animals, floating vegetation, currents and winds. When conditions improve, the valves of the shell separate and the cells inside develop into a zooid that tries to form a new colony. A study estimated that one group of colonies in a patch 1 square meter (11 sq ft) produced 800,000 statoblasts.

Discinida is an order of brachiopods comprising the extant superfamily Discinoidea, and the extinct superfamilies Botsfordioidea (early—mid-Cambrian) and Acrotheloidea. It represents a sister taxon to the Lingulids, and is possibly paraphyletic with respect to the Acrotretoids.—or the acrotretids are paraphyletic with respect to it. The group displays a broad range of shell structures, some of which incorporate substantial organic or silicified components.

Annelid Phylum of segmented worms

The annelids, also known as the ringed worms or segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecologies – some in marine environments as distinct as tidal zones and hydrothermal vents, others in fresh water, and yet others in moist terrestrial environments.

References

  1. Ruppert, E.E.; Fox, R.S. & Barnes, R.D. (2004). "Introduction to Metazoa". Invertebrate Zoology (7 ed.). Brooks / Cole. pp.  59–60. ISBN   0-03-025982-7.
  2. 1 2 3 Ruppert, E.E.; Fox, R.S. & Barnes, R.D. (2004). "Introduction to Eumetazoa". Invertebrate Zoology (7 ed.). Brooks / Cole. pp.  99–103. ISBN   0-03-025982-7.
  3. Spearman, R.I.C (1973). "Function Adaptation in the Invertebrate Integument". The integument: a textbook of skin biology. Biological structure and function. Vol. 3. CUP Archive. pp. 15–17. ISBN   0-521-20048-2 . Retrieved 21 Mar 2010.