Invertebrate Zoology Outline

This is a general outline for the material that we will cover in class. Click on the hyperlinked text to learn more about the specified topic. The organism names in parentheses are examples within each group. (This is not a complete list – we will discuss these organisms and others in both lecture and lab.)

The tree of Life
Traditional tree of animal phyla
A current phylogenetic tree of animal phyla
Simplified current phylogenetic tree
Kingdom animalia

Protists – Probably the most important statement we can make about the former "Kingdom Protista" is that it is polyphyletic and not a kingdom at all; as a matter convenience, unicellular eurkarytic organisms have typically been grouped together and called protists.

I. Sub-Kingdom Protozoa – the unicellular animal-like protists

Flagellated Protozoans – the flagellates

the Phytoflagellated Protozoa – (Euglena, Volvox, Chlamydomonas, dinoflagellates)

the Zooflagellated Protozoa – (Trypanosoma, Giardia, choanoflagellates)

Amoeboid Protozoans – the amebas (Amoeba, Arcella, Difflugia, foraminiferans,
                        heliozoans, radiolarians)

Phylum Apicomplexa – the parasitic apicomplexans (Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium)

Phylum Ciliophora – the ciliates (Paramecium, Stentor, Blepharisma)

II. Kingdom Animalia ... plants of many kinds, with birds singing on bushes, with various insects flitting about and worms crawling through the damp earth ... these elaborately constructed forms, so different and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by the laws acting around us.
–Charles Darwin

A. Phylum Porifera – the sponges

1. Class Calcarea – (Grantia = Scypha = Sycon)

2. Class Hexactinellida – (glass sponges)

3. Class Demospongiae – (Spongilla, bath sponges)

                       B. Phylum Cnidaria

                                    1.   Class Hydrozoa – (Obelia, Gonionemus, Hydra, Physalia physalis)

                                    2.   Class Syphozoa – the true jellyfish (Aurelia, "stinging nettle")

    3.   Class Cubozoa – box jellies (Chironex)

                            4.   Class Anthozoa – the "flower" animals (corals, Metridium)

C. Phylum Ctenophora “comb-bearing” – (comb jellies)

                       D. Phylum Platyhelminthes – the flatworms

1. Class Turbellaria – (Planaria)

2. Class Monogenea – (Polystoma, Gyrodactylus)

3. Class Trematoda (life cycle) – the flukes (Schistosoma, Fasciola, Clonorchis)

4. Class Cestoidea (life cycle) – the tapeworms (Diphyllobothrium, Taenia, Dipylidium caninum)

E. Phylum Rotifera “wheel-bearing" – (rotifers)

                       F. Phylum Mollusca

1.  Class Monoplacophora – (Neopilina)

2. Class Polyplacophora – (chiton)

3. Class Scaphopoda – (tooth shell)

4.  Class Gastropoda "stomach foot" – (snails, slugs, limpets, abalone)

5.  Class Bivalvia "two valves"– (clams, oysters, mussels)

6. Class Cephalopoda "head foot" – (squid, octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus)

                     G. Phylum Annelida – the segmented worms

1.  Class Polychaeta "many hairs" – (clamworms)

2.  Class Oligochaeta "few hairs" – (earthworms)

3.  Class Hirudinea – (leeches)

               H. Phylum Bryozoa – the moss animals

                     I.  Phylum Nematoda – the roundworms (Trichinella, Ascaris, hookworm)

                     J. Phylum Arthropoda

                                            1.  Subphylum Chelicerata

                                                      a. Class Meristomata – (horseshoe crab)

b. Class Pycnogonida – (sea spiders)

                                                      c. Class Arachnida – (spiders, ticks, scorpions)

                                            2.  Subphylum Crustacea – (lobster, shrimp, crab, crayfish)

                                            3.  Subphylum Myriapoda

                                                      a. Class Chilopoda – (centipedes)

                                                      b. Class Diplopoda – (millipedes)

>                                               4.  Subphylum Hexapoda

                                                        Class Insecta – (butterflies, ants, crickets, roaches)

                                                              *You do not need to know insect Orders unless specifically discussed in class

                       K. Phylum Echinodermata –"spine skin"

1.  Class Asteroidea – (sea stars)

2.  Class Ophiuroidea – (brittle stars)

3.  Class Echinoidea – (sea urchins, sand dollars)

4.  Class Holothuroidea – (sea cucumbers)

5.  Class Crinoidea – (sea lilies, feather stars)

L. Phylum Hemichordata “half-string” – (acorn worms)

                       M. Phylum Chordata

                                            1.  Subphylum Urochordata "tail cord" – (tunicates)

                                            2.  Subphylum Cephalochordata "head cord" – (Amphioxus)

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