Freshwater bryozoan with lophophore extended

The lophophore is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by three major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, and Phoronida. All lophophores are marine. It can most easily be described as a ring of ciliated tentacles surrounding the mouth, but it is often horseshoe-shaped or coiled. Phoronids have their lophophores in plain view, but brachiopods must be opened wide to get a good view of their lophophore. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 122 KB) Freshwater bryozoan from a lake in NC, USA. File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Bryozoa Lophophore Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1280x960, 122 KB) Freshwater bryozoan from a lake in NC, USA. File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Bryozoa Lophophore Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added... Classes Lingulata Paterinata (extinct) Craniforma Chileata (extinct) Obolellata (extinct) Kutorginata (extinct) Strophomenata (extinct) Rhynchonellata Brachiopods (from Latin bracchium, arm + New Latin -poda, foot) make up one of the major animal phyla, Brachiopoda. ... Classes Stenolaemata Gymnolaemata Phylactolaemata Bryozoans are tiny colonial animals that generally build stony skeletons of calcium carbonate, superficially similar to coral. ... Genera Phoronis Phoronopsis Phoronids (Phoronida) are a relatively small animal phylum: twelve species are known, in two genera, Phoronis and Phoronopsis. ... cross-section of two cilia, showing 9+2 structure A cilium (plural cilia) is a fine projection from a eukaryotic cell that constantly beats in one direction. ...

The lophophore surrounds the mouth and is an upstream collecting system for suspension feeding. Its tentacles are hollow with extensions of a coelomic space thought to be a mesocoel. The gut is U-shaped with the anterior mouth at the center of the lophophore. The anus is also anterior, but is dorsal to the mouth, outside the ring of the lophophore. By the broadest definition, a body cavity is any fluid filled space in a multicellular organism. ... Female Human Anatomy Male Human Anatomy This article is about the bodily orifice. ...

Groups with lophophores are called lophophorates. They were traditionally considered a monophyletic group, but it now appears they are also related to phyla such as the Mollusca and Annelida, together forming the Lophotrochozoa. In phylogenetics, a group is monophyletic (Greek: of one stem) if all organisms in that group are known to have developed from a common ancestral form, and all descendants of that form are included in the group. ... Classes Caudofoveata Aplacophora Polyplacophora Monoplacophora Bivalvia Scaphopoda Gastropoda Cephalopoda † Rostroconchia † Helcionelloida † ?Bellerophontidae The molluscs (British spelling) or mollusks (American spelling) are members of the large and diverse phylum Mollusca, which includes a variety of familiar animals well-known for their decorative shells or as seafood. ... Classes and subclasses Class Polychaeta (paraphyletic?) Class Clitellata    Oligochaeta - Earthworms and others    Acanthobdellida    Branchiobdellida    Hirudinea - Leeches Class Myzostomida Class Archiannelida (polyphyletic) Class Echiura *Some authors consider the subclasses under Clitellata to be classes The annelids, collectively called Annelida, are a large phylum of animals, comprising the segmented worms, with about... Phyla Trochozoa Mollusca Annelida Sipuncula Nemertea Lophophorata Brachiopoda Phoronida Bryozoa Entoprocta The Lophotrochozoa are one of two or three major groups of protostome animals. ...