Phylum Phoronida

Chenny Dhanryll m. Guzman

Danniele Clarice B, Mariano
“horseshoe worms”
 “Phoronis” = one of the many
names of the Ancient
Egyptian goddess Isis
exclusively marine group of
lophophorate animals
Filter-feed via lophophore, and
build upright tubes of chitin to
support and protect their soft
bodies
May be brightly colored: orange,
pink, green, yellow
DISTINGUSHING CHARACTERISTIC

Crown of Ciliated Tentacles

 CHARACTERISTICS

 2 to 20 cm long and about 1.5 mm wide

Coelomate
Bilateral Symmetry
Has a body more than two cell layers thick with tissues and organs.
Vermiform body shape
All secrete a chitinous or leathery tube that is either buried in the sand
or attached to rocks or shells
Body Wall
outer flexible cuticle
epidermis secretes
cuticle
layers of longitudinal and
circular muscles
true coelom
Three body parts in larval and adult forms, each containing its
own coelom:

 prosome (with the protocoelom) forms the epistome, a fold extending

along the inner row of tentacles and overhanging the mouth dorsally;

mesosome (with the mesocoelom) bears mainly the lophophore. The

diaphragm, a horizontal septum located behind the lophophore base,
separates the protocoelom and mesocoelom from the metacoelom;

metasome (or trunk, with the metacoelom) is slender and cylindrical,

with he a posterior ampulla, which is used to anchor the body at the tube
end.
Feeding & Digestion
filterfeeders with conspicuous set of modified ciliated tentacles =
lophophore
circular or crescent shaped
coelom extends into tentacles
feed on plankton and detritus
cilia direct food toward mouth
with up to 50 ciliated tentacles in two spirals :
collects food
entangles it in mucous
cilia move it to mouth
typical U – shaped gut leads to anus outside lophophore
Respiration
gas exchange through lophophore

Circulation
closed circulatory system with hemoglobin inside blood cells

adaptation to life in anoxic or low O2 environments

no heart, some vessels constrict to pump blood

Excretion
 paired metanephridia for excretion
Nervous system
simple diffuse nervous system
nervous ganglion
ring nerve – but no distinct brain
giant nerves fibres
Reproduction and Development
most are hermaphrodites; some are dioecious
fertilization can be internal or external
eggs fertilized internally are released through nephridiopore
in some tentacles brood eggs
free-swimming ciliated larva metamorphoses into sessile adult
at least two species reproduce asexually
 It has two genera:

Phoronis
Phoronopsis
 Phoronis
These worms are filter-feeders
The diagnostic feature that distinguishes this genus is the lack
of invagination at the base of the lophophore
Species: Phoronis australis, Phoronis ijimai, Phoronis muelleri,
Phoronis ovalis, Phoronis palida, Phoronis psammophila
 Phoronopsis
The members of this genus live in tubes at the bottom of the
sea.
Benthic filter-feeders with a worm-like body encased in a
loosely fitting chitinous tube.
The genus is characterized by the epidermis folding under
itself at the collar beneath the lophophore.
Species: Phoronopsis albomaculata, Phoronopsis californica,
Phoronopsis harmeri, Phoronopsis malakhovi