Echinoderm
An Echinoderm is a Ambulacraria that ...
- Context:
- It can (typically) belong to a phylum Echinodermata.
- It can (often) have radial symmetry
- It can (often) have a water vascular system.
- ...
- It can possess a calcareous endoskeleton made up of ossicles.
- It can exhibit a unique water vascular system used for locomotion, feeding, and respiration.
- It can regenerate lost body parts, a notable feature in many echinoderms like sea stars.
- It can show a range of reproductive strategies, from external fertilization to brooding.
- It can inhabit various marine environments, from shallow coastal areas to the deep sea.
- It can play significant ecological roles, such as bioindicators and contributors to the benthic ecosystem.
- It can exhibit pentaradial symmetry as adults, though larvae are usually bilaterally symmetrical.
- It can display a variety of feeding strategies, including suspension feeding, deposit feeding, and predation.
- ...
- Example(s):
- a Sea Star like Fromia Indica, known for its bright colors and ability to regenerate limbs.
- an Echinoid such as Stomopneustes, characterized by its spiny exterior.
- a Crinoid like Oxycomanthus Bennetti, which uses its feathery arms for filter feeding.
- a Sea Cucumber such as Actinopyga Echinites, known for its elongated body and unique defense mechanisms.
- an Ophiuroidea like Ophiocoma Scolopendrina, recognized for its long, flexible arms.
- a Sand Dollar, a type of Echinoid known for its flattened, disk-like shape.
- Sea Urchins, such as: purple sea urchins.
- a brittle star.
- a sea lilies.
- "stone lilies"
- …
- See: Mesozoic Marine Revolution, Starfish, Ophiuroidea, Stomopneustes, Echinoidea, Oxycomanthus Bennetti, Crinoid, Actinopyga Echinites, Sea Cucumber, Ctenocystoidea.
References
2023
- (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/echinoderm Retrieved:2023-6-10.
- An echinoderm is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea lilies or "stone lilies". Adult echinoderms are found on the sea bed at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone. The phylum contains about 7,000 living species, making it the second-largest grouping of deuterostomes, after the chordates. Echinoderms are the largest entirely marine phylum. The first definitive echinoderms appeared near the start of the Cambrian.
The echinoderms are important both ecologically and geologically. Ecologically, there are few other groupings so abundant in the biotic desert of the deep sea, as well as shallower oceans. Most echinoderms are able to reproduce asexually and regenerate tissue, organs, and limbs; in some cases, they can undergo complete regeneration from a single limb. Geologically, the value of echinoderms is in their ossified skeletons, which are major contributors to many limestone formations, and can provide valuable clues as to the geological environment. They were the most used species in regenerative research in the 19th and 20th centuries. Further, some scientists hold that the radiation of echinoderms was responsible for the Mesozoic Marine Revolution.
- An echinoderm is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea lilies or "stone lilies". Adult echinoderms are found on the sea bed at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone. The phylum contains about 7,000 living species, making it the second-largest grouping of deuterostomes, after the chordates. Echinoderms are the largest entirely marine phylum. The first definitive echinoderms appeared near the start of the Cambrian.