PHYLUM CHORDATA

Chordata: Main Characteristics

– Pharyngeal Slits
» Series of openings connecting inside of neck to outside;
» Sometimes in form of gills;
» For terrestrial groups: only exist during embryonic stages.

– Dorsal Nerve Cord

» A bundle of nerve fibres running along dorsal area;
» Connects brain to lateral muscles and other organs;

– Notochord
» Cartilage rod that supports nerve chord;
» For some: disappear during adult stage;
» Vertebrata: notochord during embryo, vertebra (backbone)
during adult;

– Post Anal Tail

» Tail located beyond anus;
 Chordata: General Characteristics

• Closed circulatory system;

• Almost all with a heart;
• Most with blood containing haemoglobin
• Muscles segmented into blocks call myotomes
• All chordates are Deuterosomes (just like
Echinodermata): ie anus formed before mouth
• 2 Classes (Urochordata and Cephalochordata) are
important oceanic filter feeders
CLASSES IN PHYLUM CHORDATA
 Urochordata:

• Adults do not have chordate

features except for gills
• Some Families have spicules
• 3 Classes:
– Ascidiascea (Sea Squirts)
– Thaliacea (Salps)
– Larvacea
UROCHORDATA: Ascidiascea

• Most common class

• Common name: ‘sea squirt’
• Body in form of basket;
• Possesses 2 siphons (side-
by-side)
• Larva (resembles tadpole):
free swimming;
• Larva swims and attach to
hard substrate; and
• Larva looses tail and ability
to swim.
UROCHORDATA: Thaliacea (salps)

Almost exactly like Ascidia except

for a few features:

– Siphons on both ends (not side-by-side)

– perforated pharynx replaced by two funnel-
shaped holes
– No larval stage
 UROCHORDATA: Larvacea
• Different from other 2 classes;
• Only non stationary group;
• Tadpole shaped larvae never lose their
tail;
• Average size only 5 mm (including tail);
• Possess a transparent gelatinous 'house‘
• eg Oikopleura sp.
 Oikopleura (with housing)

Oikopleura (without housing)

 EXAMPLES OF UROCHORDATA:
Ascidia

Ciona sp.
 CEPHALOCHORDATA

• Known as amphioxus or lancelet

• Only 25 known sp.
• Found in shallow seas esp. buried in marine sand;
– Eg. 5000/m2 at Discovery Bay, Jamaica
• Possess chordate features even in adults
• Different from true vertebrata: small brain
• No true vertebrae
• Developed circulatory system;
• Excretory system – paired nephridia
CEPHALOCHORDATA -Feeding

• Water ‘sucked’ into mouth thro’ ciliary

movement around mouth;
• Water filtered by oral cirri and then thro’
gills;
• Food in water caught by mucus;
• Hepatic caecum - secretes digestive
enzymes;
• Actual digestion done at the digestive
area of intestine called ciliocolonic ring)
• Sexes are separated;
• Larva resembles fish
CEPHALOCHORDATA (Amphioxus)
CLASS MYXINI (Hagfish)
• Found in cold aceans;
• Resembles an eel
• Pinkish in colour
• Secretes a lot of sticky mucus
• 3 heart accessory;
• No cerebrum and cerebellum
• No jaws or stomach;
• Feeds on dead or dying fish.
CLASS MYXINI (Hagfish)
• Also preys on small
vertebrata;
• Almost blind;
• Developed sense of smell
and touch;
• 4 tentacles located
around mouth, used as
sensory organ;
• Direct reproduction, no
larval stage;
• Juveniles resemble adults
CLASS MYXINI (Hagfish)
• Juvenile Myxini are
hermaphrodite
• Eggs – about 1 in diameter
• No. of eggs not many but rate
of mortality low;
• Possesses a cranium (skull);
• Some without vertebra
• Skeleton from cartilage
SUBPHLUM VERTEBRATA
• Well recognized:
not because of
large number of
taxa or individuals
but because
relates to humans
 VERTEBRATA – Fossil Records

• Exists > 500 million years ago (late Cambrian Era)

• Original form without jaws (as in hagfish and lamprey
• First species identified – Anapsis
• Cartilagenous fish, bony fish and tetrapod (vertebrata
with true feet) evolved during late Devonian Era (360 M
years ago)
• Terrestrial amphibians appeared during late Mississippi
Era
• Amniots (ancestor to reptiles, birds and mammals)
evolved during early Pennsylvanian Era
 VERTEBRATA – Life History
• Can be found from the tropics to the poles, from the
deep ocean to the highest mountain, and in the air.

• Vertebrata and insects use energy for flying;

• Evolution began in the ocean;

• Ancestor with gill slits but for filtering for food, respiration
via skin;

• Later gills use for respiration

 VERTEBRATA – Life History (cont)
• Almost all with separate sexes;

• Almost all oviparous (lay eggs)

• Some fish and reptiles maintain eggs in body. Eggs

hatch internally – ovoviviparous;

• Some (incl. Sharks and dogfish) and almost all mammals

retain embryos in the mother and feed via a special
connector (viviparous)
 What differentiates Vertebrata from other
Chordata?

Vertebrae
• Centrum – bony
structure in the form
of a disc. Formed
around and replacing
the notocord
neural arch centrum
• Neural arch – long
hole through which
the nerve cord passes
 What other forms are unique of the Vertebrata?

Neural crest cells

• During early development, ie. when nerve cord is being
formed, neural crest cells leave nerve cord and move
around body forming various important nerves, nerve
ganglia, and other nerves in the head and face
 DIFFERENT BONES FOUND IN VERTEBRATA

2 kinds of bones
• Dermal Bones
– Bony forms (plates and scales) that develop into skin;
– example: bony shield of early jawless fish, scales of sharks,
shoulder blade, top of the skull
• Endoskeletal Bone
– Originally : cartilage form and later calcified;
– For cartilaginous fish true bones never formed.
– example: vertebrae, ribs, appendages, jaws
 DIFFERENT BONES FOUND IN VERTEBRATA
(cont)

• Cartilage
– All vertebrata have cartilage
– Cartilage are flexible – nose, ears
– Hard cartilage – larynx
– Calcified cartilage (sharks teeth); not true
bones as they are not alive.
 CLASSIFICATION OF SUBPHYLUM
VERTEBRATA
• Petromyzontidae - lampreys
• Placodermi – extinct
• Chondrichthyes – cartilaginous fish
• Acanthodii – extinct
• Actinopterygii – fin fish
• Actinistia – coelacanth
• Dipnoi – lung fish
• Amphibia
• Reptilia
• Aves
• Mammalia
 PETROMYZONTIFORMES (Lampreys)
• Also called Agnatha
• Resembles eels but with differences
– Lack both jaws and paired fins
• Almost 50 species
• Found in rivers and coastal areas of temperate region
• Some remains in freshwater througout life
• Others (eg Petrmyzon marinus): are anandromus ie stay
in freshwater during early stage and return to sea during
adults
• Live for 1 – 2 years, lay eggs and die
• Larva trap food using gills
Petromyzontiformes (Lampreys)

Lamprey sucking blood from fish

PETROMYZONTIFORMES (cont)
• With rounded jawless
mouth which
resembles a sucker

• Preys on fish but also

on invertebrates

• Now a major fisheries

problem in the Great
Lakes
PLACODERMI – FIRST JAW FISH
 PLACODERMI

• Extinct
• Thick bony shield around head and neck
• Teeth replace by bony plates
• When in existence represents a very diverse and
successful group
PLACODERMI - Examples
• Dunkleosteus – marine predators
• Found in Ohio, USA
• Lived during Devonian Era
• Very diverse
• Size – 20 feet
• Width of head – 4 feet

• Bothriolepis
• From Quebec, Canada
• Head – 4 inches wide
CHONDRICHTHYES
• Including sharks, skates,
rays and chimaeras
• First appeared 450 M years
ago
• No true bones; only
cartilages
• Teeth and vertebrae calcified
• Sharks prey on fish, squids,
and marine mammals
• Skates and chimaeras feed
on crustaceans and mollusks
 • Thick heterocercal tail
Shark

• Fin fish with

Salmon
homocercal tail
 CHONDRICHTHYES - Clasification
• Elasmobranchii
– Upper jaws not fused and with a braincase;
– Gill openings resemble slit;
– eg Sharks
• Brandyodonti
– Upper jaws fused and with a braincase;
– Gills covered by operculum
– eg – Chimaera, ratfish
ACTINOPTERYGII
 ACTINOPTERYGII
• 20,000 species still living;
• Fins – skin membrane supported by bony thorns;
• All with true bones except for some primitive forms;
• Largest teleost group;
• Operculums cover gills;
• Most with homocercal tail;
• With swimming bladder;
• Most lay eggs but some will wait until hatch. (guppy,
swordtail)
 ACTINOPTERYGII (Classfication)
• Used to be categorized into 3 groups;

– Chondrostei
– Holostei
– Teleostei

• Present
– Cheirolepis
– Polypteridae
– Redfieldiidae
– Chondrostei
– Neoterygii : Holostei dan Teleostei
 Chondrostei
• Two chondrostean lineages survive today
– sturgeons of Eurasia and North America
– paddlefish (shown here) of North America and China

• have secondarily lost a number of

actinopterygian traits
– lack scales on most of the body
– cartilaginous skeleton
– shark-like, heterocercal tail
– rostrum extending past the mouth
Chondrostei: example

Paddlefish
 Holostei:

Only 8 species survive:

• Lepisosteidae – 
– Gar Pikes ­ 7 species, North and Central America

• Amiidae – 
– the Bowfin ­ 1 North American Species ­ Amia 
calva
 Holostei: examples

Alligator gar

Manjuari
 SARCOPTERYGII

• Include Actinistia, Dipnoi and Tetrapod;

• Tail formed earlier – heterocercal
• Now (lung fish, cealocanth) – homocercal
• Lobed-fins - containing bones and muscle;
• Front fins can be used to support body.
• Dipnoi – lung fish
– From South Amerika

• Coelocanth
– from Sulawesi
 AMPHIBIA

• Order Urodela
– Body usually long and cylindrical;
– head, trunk, and tail are separate;
– legs, if present, usually all equal in size.
– Salamanders and Newts.
• Order Salientia
– Body usually short and stout;
– head and trunk usually combined,
– with no tail;
– legs often smaller in front. Salamander
– Frogs and Toads.
 REPTILIA
• Order Testudines
– Body is covered by "shell" of fused hardened scales;
– have toothless beaks.
– turtles and Tortoises
• Order Crocodilia
– Have legs and movable eyelids;
– mouth without "lips";
– found mostly in or near water.
– Alligators, Crocodiles and Gavials.
• Superorder Squamata
– May or may not have legs;
– teeth hidden by "lips";
– common on land but sometimes in water;
– Scales often small
– Lizards and snakes
Marine Turtles in Malaysia

Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)

MARINE TURTLES OF MALAYSIA

Olive-ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea

The green turtle (Chelonia mydas)

 AVES (Birds)
• extremely distinctive and successful
• estimated 9000 species
• evolved remarkable specializations for flight
– unique "one-way" breathing system
– light yet strong hollow bones
– skeleton in which many bones are fused or lost
– powerful flight muscles
– feathers.
 Flamingos
Ostritch

Snow owl Hawk

MAMMALS: Characteristics not found
in other animals

• Middle ear bones

• Hair
• Mammary gland – milk production
Mammalia
 Subclass Metatheria (Marsupials)

Youngs born in immature stage

Most have pouch

Major Groups:
•Order Didelphimorphia - opossums
•Order Paucituberculata - shrew-like insectivores
•Order Dasyuromorphia - Tasmanian wolf
•Order Diprotodontia - (10 families and 117 species) kangaroos,
wallaby, wombats, koalas
 Subclass Prototheria
Order Monotremata

• Lay eggs with leathery shells

• Nourish young with milk
• 2 Families:
– Family Ornithorhynchidae, duck-billed platypus
– Family Tachyglossidae, spiny anteater

Echidna
Platypus
EUTHERIA
 Major Orders of Mammals:

Subclass Eutheria (Placental Mammals)

Order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates: antelope, deer, camels, pigs,
cows, sheep, hippos, etc.)
Order Carnivora (carnivores: cats, bears, dogs, polar bear,
Order Cetacea (whales, dolphins)
Order Chiroptera (bats)
Order Insectivora (insect-eaters: hedgehogs, moles, shrews)
Order Logomorpha (rabbits, hares)
Order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates: horses, rhinos, tapirs)
 Major Orders of Mammals: (cont)

Subclass Eutheria
•Order Pholidota (the pangolin)
•Order Primates (apes, monkeys, lemurs, people)
•Order Proboscidea (elephants, mammoths, mastodonts
•Order Rodentia (rodents: rats, mice, squirrels, hamsters,
•Order Sirenia (sea cows, manatees)
MARINE BIODIVERSITY
• Plankton
– Phytoplankton
– Zooplankton
• Benthos
– Coral species
– Polycheates
– Molluscs
– Crustaceans
• Nekton
– Fish
– Squids
– Mammals