Amazing Facts About Invertebrates

Published by Queendom Heiress
March 1, 2009, Category: Microbiology

Classification of invertebrates, or animals without backbones.

Protozoa: This phylum is single-celled invertebrates. They are microscopic. All the process of digestion, circulation, excretion, and reproduction are performed by the same cell. Three example are amoeba, paramecium, and euglena.
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Poriferans (Do you remember Sponge Bob Square Pants?): This phylum is composed of animals with pores in their body. The body is a thick-walled bag with cavity at the center. The pores serve as the entrance of the water carrying the food materials. Most of them live in the shallow areas of the ocean. The Venus-Flower Basket belong to this phylum. It is a deep marine sponge with skeleton of glass like materials often displayed in laboratory rooms.
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Coelentarates: This phylum includes animals armed with tentacles around the mouth. These tentacles can sting other animals and inject a poisonous substance. The body is similar to a transparent hallow bag and is usually umbrella shaped. The jellyfish is a good example. Another example is the coral polyp. It builds a skeleton of lime-stones around itself. Colonies of polyps are responsible for the formation of coral reefs, which serve as the habitat of small fishes, star fish, and crustaceans.
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Platyhelminthes: Flatworms belong to this phylum. Their body is long, flat, and ribbon-like. They are mostly parasitic. The common example is the pork tapeworm (Taenia Solium). Planaria and liverflukes are also belong to this phylum.
Nemathelminthes: Roundworms are included in this phylum. Examples are ascaris worm, trichina worm, filaria worm, and the hookworm. Their body is long, cylindrical, and threadlike, which are pointed at both ends.
Echinodermata: The examples are starfish, sea urchin, sea lilies, and sea cucumber. They are characterized as animals with spine.
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Annelida: The segmented worms are included in this phylum. Their long cylindrical body is made up of segments. Earthworms and leech are examples of this phylum.
Mollusca: This phylum includes animals with soft flesh which are usually covered with shells. Examples are clams, oysters, slugs, octopus, and squid.
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Arthropoda: This phylum includes animals with jointed appendage. The examples are insects, crustaceans, spiders, and scorpions. The crustaceans are the crabs, shrimps, lobsters, and prawns.