Phoronid
Phoronids (
Phoronida) are
a relatively small
animal
phylum:
twelve species are known, in two genera,
Phoronis and
Phoronopsis.
Phoronids are
worm-shaped, but
with a gut that loops and exits the body near the mouth, instead of running the
length of the animal, as in
annelids
(and many
vertebrates).
Phoronids are found in marine sediments, ranging from the intertidal zone to 400
meters depth, but are commonest at depths of less than 70 meters. The adults secrete
chitinous tubes in which to live. They feed using a
lophophore, a ciliated
structure that surrounds the mouth.
Together with the Ectoprocta
and Brachiopoda, the
phoronids belong to the lophophorates, sometimes treated as a single phylum. There
are no known phoronid fossils.
References
http://www.itis.usda.gov
TSN (phylum): 155456
TSN (family): 155457
