66

Hemichordata : Characters,
Classification and Types
Hemichordates are usually described as, 'primitive chordates or
'invertebrate chordates'. This phylum of wormlike animals of shallow
ocean bottom was considered closely related to the chordates. Alliance
with the chordates was based on the presence of gill slits and the so
called notochord. It is now generally agreed that the hemichordate
'notochord' is neither analogous nor homologous with the chordate
notochord and that except the common possession of pharyngeal clefts
the two groups are dissimilar. Hemichordates have thus been removed
from chordates and been given the rank of a separate phylum.

DEFINITION

Cord) means they

Name Hemichordata (Gr., hemi, half; Chorde, undisputed. They are
are 'half" or 'part chordates, a fact that iscoelomate animals having
vermi form., solitary or colonial enterocoelous
gut with or without
intra--epidermal nervous system and a pre-oral
l-slits and without typical nephridia.

GENERAL CHARACTERS

Exclusively marine, solitary or colonial, mostly tubicolous.

unsegmented, bilaterally
Body soft, ragile, vermiform,
Symmetrical and triploblastic.
 Grsp

970 Hemichordata : Characters, Classification and Trpe

3. Body wall of a single-layered epidermis with 5. Alimentary canal straight. Mouth and anusat as

mucous glands. No dermis. opposite ends. Filter feeding. A rh

i e

4. Coelom enterocoelous, usually divided into 6. Several pairs of U-shaped gill-slits. habrits

protocoel, mesocoel and metacoel, 7. Sexes separate. Gonads numerous, sac-like

corresponding to 3 body regions. 8. Development includes tornaria larva in some
5. Digestive tube complete, straight or Asexul reproduction lacking.
U-shaped. Examples Balanoglossus, Saccoglossus
6. Foregut gives out a hollow buccal (= Dolichoglossus), Protoglossus, Ptychodera STHER
diverticulum into proboscis, earlier Spengelia.
considered as 'notochord'. CLASS 2. Pterobranchia
7. Dorso-lateral pharyngeal gill-slits, when (Gr. pteron, feather + branchion, gill)
present, one to several pairs. Ciliary filter 1. Solitary or colonial, sessile and tubicolous
feeders. animals living inside secreted chitinous tubes.
8. Circulatory system simple and open, 2. Body short, compact, with stalk for
sleDN
including a dorsal heart and two longitudinal attachment.
vessels, one dorsal and one ventral. 3 Proboscis shield-like.
9. Excretion by a single proboscis gland or 4. Collar bearing ciliated arms (lophophore). s2three
glomerulus connected to blood vessels. 5. Alimentary canal U-shaped. Anus dorsal Iying Probosci
10. Nervous system primitive consisting mainly near mouth. Ciliary feeding. han in
of a subepidermal nerve plexus. Dorsal collar 6. Gill-slits one pair or absent, never U-shaped. collar
nerve cord hollow. 7. Sexes separate or united. Gonads 1 or 1pair.
11. Reproduction mainly sexual. Sexes usually 8. Development direct or with a larval stage.
separate. Gonads one to several pairs. Asexual reproduction by budding in some.
12. Fertilization external in sea water. Order 1. Rhabdopleurida
Development direct or indirect with a 1. Colonial, zooids connected by a stolon.
free-swimming tornaria larva. 2. Collar with two tentaculated arms.
3. -Gill-slits absent.
4. Gonad single.
CLASSIFICATION Example : Single genus Rhabdopleura.
Order 2. Cephalodiscida
1. Solitary several zooids living
Hemichordata includes about 80 known
species which are generally grouped under two unconnected in a common gelatinous case.
2. Collar with several tentaculated arms.
classes, Enteropneusta and Pterobranchia
Besides, two more classes are included by some, Gill-slits single pair present.
3
as below : Gonads single pair present.
4.
Examples: Cephalodiscus. Arubaria.
CLASS 1. Enteropneusta
CLASS 3. Planctosphaeroidea
(Gr., enteron, gut + pneustos breathed)
1. Solitary, free-swimming or burrowing animals, This class is represented by a few snmall, rounded,
commonly called the 'acorn or tongue transparent and pelagic larvae, supposed to be
specialized tornaria of some unknown
Worms'
hemichordate termed Planctosphaera pelagica.
2. Body elongated, vermiform, with no stalk. The larval body is covered by extensively
3. Proboscis cylindrical and tapering. branched ciliary bands and its alimentary canal is
4. Collar without ciliated arms (lophophore). L-shaped.
 Hemichordata : Characters,
Classification and Types 971
CLASS Graptolita
efossil graptolites (e.g., Dendrograptus) were
abundantin Ordovician and Silurian periods
often placed as an extinct
and
class under
Hemichordata. Their tubular chitinous skeleton and
habits show
colonial an
affinity with -proboscis
Rhabdopleura.
-proboscis stalk -proboscis
-collar
0THER HEMICHORDATES -collar
gill pores
gill pores
branchial
LSaccoglossus (=Dolichoglossus). It is a typical region of
enteropneust genus very much similar to trunk
branchial region
RalanoglosSus in habitat, habits and structure. It of trunk
is amarine, slender, soft-bodied tubicolous tongue genital
-mid dorsal wings
worm living in spirally twisted burrows. Body has ridge
the usual three divisions : proboscis, collar and middorsal
ridge
trunk. Proboscis is exceptionally longer and
genital folds
pointed than in other tongue worms. The posterior
rim of collar hangs like operculum over the hèpatic
region
anterior end of trunk covering first 3 or 4 pairs -posterior of trunk
of gill-pores.Genital wings and hepatic caeca, so region of trunk
well-developed in Balanoglossus, are absent.
Mature gonads are yellow in male and grey in
wasola female and their position marked externally by
anis orso-lateral genital folds in the middle part of
anus
ne trunk. Synapticula are not present so that
longue bars hang freely in their gill-slits.
Development is direct without a free-swimming Fig. 1. Saccoglossus. Fig. 2. Ptychodera.
tornaria larva. It OccurS almost universally.
in
Pygmaeus, measuring 2 to 3 cm
lSaccoglossus the smallest
ength, represents known species of sponges, etc. Erect tubes, about 6-7 mm in height,
arise at short intervals, each housing an individual
Enteropneusta.
Ptychodera. This genus also bears close or zooid of the colony. The tubes are ringed,
membranous and secreted by the zooids. A zooid
TeSemblance to Balanoglossus, ecologically as weell
as morphologically and embryologically. lts is minute, hardly 1 mm long and occupies the
somewhat shorter, but distal part of the tube. Proboscis is disc-shaped.
probosci
the trunks possesses conspicuous genital wings and
and collar are
Collar bears a pair of hollow elongated arms beset
tentacles for food
indirect with numerous fine ciliated
hepatic Sacculations. Development is
collection. Alimentary canal is U-shaped so that
iandnvolv3.ingRhabdopleura.
a free-swimming tornaria larva.
It is a marine,
sedentary anus lies near mouth. Gill-clefts
and
are absent. Sexes are separate but a
glomerulus
colony has
mainly found in the
North colonial
pterobranch single gonad
of horizontal both male and female individuals. A
Atlantic. The colony consistsforming the
the trunk. Basally
is present on the right side ofattached by a long
brCoenoeci
anching um, gelatinous tubes,
which remain
attached on hard
mollusc shells,
the trunk of each zooid is
contractile muscular stalk to a
common cord of

Substratum such as stones, corals,

 G
972
Hemichordata : Characters, Classification and Types
tentacles

extended erect
ZOoid coenoecium
arm
proboscis
anus
-collar
genital pore
aperture
nouth
contractile
stalk
collar

CoenoeciumE
-stalk or
pedicle
young buds
decumbent testis
Coenoecium
pectocaulus or
retracted zooid black stolon

A
B

Fig 3. Rhabdopleura. A. A portion of colony. B. An individual zooid.

living substance, called black stolon or withdraw the zooids into coenoecium for
pectocaulus, running inside the horizontal tubes. protection. The black stolon also forms new
The stalks can quickly contract spirally SO as to individuals asexually by budding. RCT
-animal extended
from cavity
cephalic shield

,arms

tentacles

anus

Sh
-stalk
trunk sac 3
Coenoecium
A B 6

Fig. 4. Cephalodiscus. A. A part of colony. B. An individual zooid.

 Characters,
Hesichordata : Classification and Types 973

Cephalodiscus. It is a sedentary and cephalic shield rod terrnination of

grgarious pterobranch found mainly in the seas fwo of arrns
- without tentacles
Southern Hemisphere at depths of 50 to
tentacles
of Several zooids live in separate upright
650 m. tubes secreted by them and embedded
gelatinoustub
Comnon matrix called coenoecium, fixed
manently to substratum. Foreign materials such arms gonopore
sand grains, sponge
spicules, molluscan shells, anus
2s
also adhere to the coenoecium. The zooids
elc. unconnected organically and thus do not
remain pigment stripe
Constitute a true colony. Each zooid is 2 to oral lamella
long and has the usual three body
3 mm gill slit
divisions : proboscis, collar and trunk. Proboscis
ksheild-shaped overhanging the mouth. Its cavity.
trunk sac

the proboscis coelom, opens out through two hollow

nroboscis pores. The collar bears 8-16
ams (lophophore), which in female are beset with stalk
pumerous fine, pinnately arranged and heavily
ciliat cd tentacles used for food capture. The tips
of tentacles bear glandular knobs. The trunk is
short and plump bearing a single pair of gill-slits
without skeletal support. Alimentary canal is
U-shaped with ventral mouth and dorsal anus Fig. 5. Atubaria.
located at the distal end. A narrow elongated
contractile stalk arising from the aboral end
attaches the zooid to its tube. Sexes are separate, stalk and closely resembling Cephalodiscus. A
coenoecium is lacking. The zooid measures
gonads a single pair and development direct. 1-5 mm in length with usual three divisions of
Asexual reproduction also takes place by buds the body. The collar carries four pairs of
ansing from stalk and soon becoming free.
tentaculated arms of which second pair distally
5. Atubaria, Sato first described Atubaria in has rod-like terminations devoid of tentacles. One
1250. It is a sedentary and solitary pterobranch pair of pharyngeal gill-slits are present.
genus clinging to hydroid colonies by its long
Important
uestions
>Long
J. Give answer typeandquestions
characters classification of phylum Hemichordata up to orders.
Write shbort notes on : (i) Balanoglossus, (ii) Cephalodiscus, (ii) Rhabdopleura.
Short answer type questions
J. Define hemichorda.
2. What is the coelomic condition of Hemichordata ?
3.
4.
Give an account of classification of Hemichordata.
S.
What do
you mean by Enteropneusta ?
6. GiWrite
ve a down
short the on Saccoglossus.
notetaxonomic condition of Rhabd pleura.
1. Distinguish between Enteropneusta and Plerobranchia.
8.
What is the organs in Hemichordat:a ?
9.
0. Where is the excretory
fertilization occurs in Hemichordata ?
Give classification of Cephalodiscus.
974
Hemichordata : Characters, Classification and T
11. Give the taxonomic
condition of the followings :
(a) Saccoglossus (b) Rhabdopleura
(c) Cephalodiscus (d) Prychodera
12. Describe the
stomatochord.
13. How is the body division in Hemichordata.
>>Fill in the blanks
1. In Hemichordata the body wall of
a....epidermis.
2. .....coelome present in Hemichordata.
3. Asexual reproduction...in Enteropneusta.
4. Gill slits and gonads both are single pairs in order.....
5. Name of the larva of Hemichordata is

Multiple choice questions

1. Larva of Balanoglossus is : 4. Stomochord present in :
(a) bipinnaria larva (b) tornaria larva (a) Amphioxus (b) Herdmania
(c) tadpole larva (d) trochophore larva (c) Balanoglossus (d) none the above
2. Enteropneusta belong to : 5. Proboscis gland is the excretory organ in
(a) Hemichordata (b) Cephalochordata (a) Balanoglossus (b) Herdmania
(c) Urochordata (d) Echinodermata (c) Amphioxus
3. Protochordata are :
a) marine (b) fresh water
(c) both (d) none

Answers

>>Fill in the blanks

1. single layered, 2. Enterocoelous, 3. lacking, 4. cephalodiscida, 5. tornaria.
>>Multiple choice questions
1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (a) 4. (c)5. (a)