9/9/2011

At last...Welcome to your
Phylum!
Chordata 1: The
invertebrate chordates

ZOO 3
Prof. Eleanor Aurellado

Derived Characteristics of
Notochord
Chordates
Dorsal, Flexible dorsal rod-like structure
Muscle hollow Closely packed vacuolated cells enclosed in
segments nerve cord
fibrous sheath
Notochord
Provides skeletal support
Most vertebrates have remnants of the
notochord
Mouth
Anus Pharyngeal Endostyle or
Muscular, slits or clefts Thyroid
post-anal tail gland

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Dorsal hollow nerve cord

Develops into the central nervous system: Develops from a
brain and the spinal cord plate of ectoderm
Innervates muscle segments to control that rolls into a tube
locomotion dorsal to the
Hollow nerve cord allows greater expansion
notochord
of the brain

Pharyngeal slits or pouches Pharyngeal pouches

Used for filter-feeding in the invertebrate Gave rise to the eustachian tube, middle ear
chordates cavity, tonsils in the tetrapods (vertebrates
Modified into internal gills for respiration in with limbs)
fishes

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Muscular post-anal tail Subpharyngeal gland

Contains skeletal elements and muscles
Provides propelling force in many aquatic
species
Concentrates iodine
Endostyle found in invertebrate chordates
(tunicates & lancelets) and lamprey larvae;
and secretes mucus for trapping food particles
Thyroid gland of adult lampreys & vertebrates
homologous; regulates metabolism

Which of the chordate characteristics

shown is mainly retained in your body? Chordate Subphyla
Cephalochordata
Urochordata
Vertebrata

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Pikaia: Early chordate fossil
Found in Burgess Shale, British Columbia
Mid-Cambrian
Has notochord and muscle segments
Presumed to be a cephalochordate
Subphylum Cephalochordata
(lancelets or amphioxus)
Bladelike shape, has muscle segments
Retain all chordate hallmarks as adults
Notochord extends to the head

Branchiostoma

Subphylum Urochordata
Marine filter-feeders
Cirri
(tunicates)
Marine suspension feeders and highly
Mouth specialized as adults
Pharyngeal slits Leathery or gelatinous tunic made of
Atrium cellulose
Notochord
Digestive tract

Dorsal, hollow Atriopore

nerve cord
Segmental
muscles

Anus

Tail

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Metamorphosis in tunicates Metamorphosis in tunicates

Notochord

Tunicates most Notochord and tail disappear

resemble chordates Dorsal, hollow
Dorsal nerve cord reduced into a ganglion
nerve cord
during their larval Tail Pharyngeal slits and endostyle remain
stage (tadpole larva) Excurrent
siphon
Notochord restricted Incurrent
Muscle
segments
to tail region siphon

Intestine
Stomach
Atrium
Pharynx with slits

Class Ascidiacea (sea squirts)

Adult draws in water through an incurrent siphon, Sessile shallow water filter-feeders with a
filtering food particles barrel shaped-body
Incurrent
siphon Can be solitary, colonial or compound
to mouth
Excurrent
siphon

Atrium Excurrent
siphon

Pharynx
with
numerous Anus
slits Intestine
Tunic
Esophagus
Stomach

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Predatory tunicates
Heart periodically reverses its beat Deep-water sessile
Presence of high concentrations of Vanadium tunicates
or Niobium ions Carnivorous (feed
on small worms and
crustaceans)

Megalodicopia
Polycarpa Atriolum

Class Thaliacea (salps)

Pelagic tunicates, can be solitary or colonial Circular muscles in body wall contract to
Barrel-shaped, incurrent and excurrent pump water through body
siphons opposite each other Jet propulsion
Filter-feeding
Respiration

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Class Larvacea (= Appendicularia)

Larval form is retained by the adults Live in mucus house that trap food particles
(paedomorphosis) Abandon and rebuild house every few hours
Pelagic

Oikopleura