Echinodermata Familiy
An Echinodermata Familiy is a invertebrate sub-family composed of Echinoderms.
- Context:
- It can exhibit features like a calcareous endoskeleton composed of ossicles.
- It can possess a water vascular system used for locomotion, feeding, and respiration.
- It can demonstrate the ability to regenerate lost body parts, particularly in sea stars.
- It can show a range of reproductive strategies, including both external fertilization and brooding.
- It can inhabit a variety of marine environments, from shallow coastal waters to deep-sea habitats.
- It can play significant ecological roles, serving as bioindicators and essential components of benthic ecosystems.
- It can display pentaradial symmetry in adults, although larvae are typically bilaterally symmetrical.
- It can have diverse feeding strategies, including suspension feeding, deposit feeding, and predation.
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- Example(s):
- a member of the Asteroidea family, such as Fromia Indica (Indian sea star), known for its bright colors and regenerative abilities.
- a member of the Echinoidea family, like Stomopneustes (a sea urchin), characterized by its spiny exterior.
- a member of the Crinoidea family, such as Oxycomanthus Bennetti (Bennett's feather star), which uses its feathery arms for filter feeding.
- a member of the Holothuroidea family, like Actinopyga Echinites (a type of sea cucumber), known for its elongated body and unique defense mechanisms.
- a member of the Ophiuroidea family, such as Ophiocoma Scolopendrina (a brittle star), recognized for its long, flexible arms.
- a member of the Echinoidea family, like the Purple Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), notable for its vibrant color and sharp spines.
- ...
- Counter-Example(s):
- Mollusca, which includes invertebrates like snails and clams that have a different body plan and lack the water vascular system.
- Arthropoda, a phylum that includes insects and crustaceans, characterized by their exoskeleton and segmented bodies.
- See: Mesozoic Marine Revolution, Fromia Indica, Asteroidea, Ophiocoma Scolopendrina, 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.