What Is This Module About?

This is the last module on animals without backbones. This last group of invertebrates
is composed of mollusks, arthropods and echinoderms and you will learn all about them and
more in this module.
This module is made up of three lessons:
Lesson 1 – Mollusks
Lesson 2 – Arthropods
Lesson 3 – Echinoderms

What Will You Learn From This Module?

After studying this module, you should be able to:

♦ identify and describe mollusks, arthropods and echinoderms; and
♦ explain how these animals affect people.

Let’s See What You Already Know

Before you start studying this module, find out how much you already know about its
topics by taking this simple test first.
Encircle the letter of the correct answer.
1. Which of the following animals is not a mollusk?
a. snail
b. squid
c. beetle
d. octopus
2. Which of the following invertebrates do not have six legs?
a. fly
b. scorpion
c. head louse
d. butterfly
3. What do you call the locomotory organs of echinoderms?
a. feet
b. tube feet
c. legs
d. false feet

1
 4. Which of the following groups of animals are mostly aquatic?
a. centipedes
b. insects
c. snails
d. sea urchins
5. Among animals, insects are the most widely distributed and are the largest in
number. What could be the reason for this?
a. ability to fly
b. their method of reproduction
c. adaptation to any type of environment
d. resistance to herbicides
6. Which among the following animals have two pairs of legs per segment?
a. millipedes
b. centipedes
c. insects
d. spiders
7. Which among the following bivalves are good sources of mother pearls?
a. clams
b. snails
c. oysters
d. scallops
8. Which among the following arthropods have two body regions?
a. shrimps
b. dragonflies
c. termites
d. bees
9. Which of the following has the ability to regenerate?
a. sea urchins
b. sea cucumbers
c. sea lilies
d. sea stars
10. Which of the following invertebrates do not have exoskeletons?
a. insects
b. crustaceans
c. starfish
d. squids

2
 Well, how was it? Do you think you fared well? Compare your answers with those in
the Answer Key on page 34 to find out.
If all your answers are correct, very good! This shows that you already know much
about the topics in this module. You may still study the module to review what you already
know. Who knows, you might learn a few more new things as well.
If you got a low score, don’t feel bad. This means that this module is for you. It will
help you understand some important concepts that you can apply in your daily life. If you
study this module carefully, you will learn the answers to all the items in the test and a lot
more! Are you ready?
You may go now to the next page to begin Lesson 1.

3
 LESSON 1

Mollusks

Have you ever collected shells, eaten squids or oysters or watched snails crawl? Then
you must be familiar with mollusks. The word mollusk comes from the Greek word
molluscus meaning “thin-shelled.” Mollusks are soft-bodied invertebrates that usually have
shells. They are found on land and in freshwater and saltwater bodies. They come in many
different shapes and colors. They vary in size from the tiny aquarium snail to the giant squid
about 18 m long. Today, there are more than 70000 known species of mollusks around the
world.

Let’s Try This

Get at least one of the following soft-bodied animals from your locality: clam, oyster,
mussel, snail, squid or octopus.
How do they differ? How are they alike? Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Into how many groups can you classify mollusks?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. What are your bases for grouping them?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Mollusks can be classified into three groups — the bivalves, the univalves and the
cephalopods. They are classified based on the presence/absence of a shell, the kind and
number of shells they have and the presence/absence of a well-developed head.

4
 Let’s Learn

In this lesson, we will study the three most common types of mollusks — the univalves,
the bivalves and the cephalopods. All mollusks have soft bodies usually covered by hard
shells. They have mantles, thin layers of tissue that protect the bodies of mollusks that do not
have shells. Between a mollusk’s soft body and mantle is a space called a mantle cavity.
Inside it are the gills, organs that exchange gases under water. The body organs of mollusks
are located in an area called the visceral mass. The mantle also covers the visceral mass.
Finally, all mollusks have muscular feet used for movement.
Look at the illustration below to understand this better.

Shell Intestine
Mantle

Gills Vagina
Eye
Digestive
Penis
gland

Mouth
Stomach Radula
Anus
Excretory pore
Kidney
Salivary gland
Crop
Heart Foot

Parts of a snail

Univalves
Univalves have only one shell each that protects their soft bodies. This group includes
snails, slugs, abalones, conches and whelks. Are you familiar with at least some of these
univalves? Which among them are common in your place? Do you know why they are called
univalves?

Snail
Limpet

Whelk shell

Univalves
5
 Univalves can adapt to various kinds of environments. Many snails live on land. They
move by contracting muscular feet. They have glands in their feet that secrete mucus to
enable them to slide easily. Not all mollusks though have shells. Sea slugs are examples of
mollusks that do not have shells.

Bivalves
Do you know what bivalves are? These are very common in the provinces. They can be
easily gathered because they are often washed ashore. Some, like oysters and mussels, are
cultured. They are sold in markets at high prices.

Oyster

Mussels

Clam
Tridacna clam

Bivalves

Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials: a hand lens, some clams and mussels. Study them
closely. Count the number of rings on their shells. Count the large top point called the crown
as one ring. Are all the bands of the same width? Can you tell what the width of the bands
indicate?
How are mollusks similar? If your specimens are alive, observe how they close and
open their shells.

6
 Answer the following questions briefly.
1. How many bands did you observe in each of your specimens?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. How do univalves and bivalves differ?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. How do bivalves move from one place to another?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Clams have five bands on their shells. Each band represents one growing season or
growth line of the organism. Growth lines on univalves are not as visible as they are on
bivalves. Bivalves move from one place to another by using their muscular feet.
Bivalves are two-shelled mollusks. Their shells are joined by a hinge. Examples of
these include oysters, mussels, clams and scallops. These animals close their shells using
powerful muscles. To open their shells, they relax these muscles. Their shells are made up of
several layers formed by mantles. These shells protect their soft bodies.
Pearls are formed by many bivalves. Smooth mother of pearls are formed when the
substance secreted by the mantle coat a grain of sand or any other particle trapped between
its shell.
For protection, clams burrow deep into the mud or sand using their muscular feet.
Mussels and oysters, on the other hand, attach themselves to solid surfaces with strong
threadlike structures to keep strong waves from washing them away. Finally, scallops escape
their predators by closing their shells.

Let’s Learn

Cephalopods
When was the last time you ate a squid or an octopus? What do you call these
organisms? They are called cephalopods, marine mollusks that move by expelling water
from tubular siphons under their heads. They have highly developed eyes and sacs containing
ink, which is ejected for defense or concealment from predators. Squids, octopuses and
chambered nautiluses are members of this group. Look at the illustration on the next page.

7
 Squid

Octopus

Cephalopods

Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials: a squid, a pair of forceps, a pair of scissors and a
chopping board. Study the external parts of the squid. Notice that it has an eye on each side
of its head. Examine its tentacles. Notice that they have suckers with teethlike structures.
Note too that two of its tentacles are larger than the others. These hold the squid’s victims
and bring them to its mouth. Locate the squid’s mouth and look at its teeth. What do you think
of them? Notice their fins. They use these for swimming. A mantle covers most of the squid’s
body. Do you know what the elongated cellophane-like structure you remove from a squid
when you prepare it for cooking is? This is called a pen. It enables the squid to float. Squids
and octopuses are also noted for the ink that they release when predators come close.
Study the illustration below carefully to know the different parts of a squid.
Answer the following questions briefly.

Teeth
Mouth
Pen

Eye
Fin Mantle

Tentacle

Parts of a squid

8
 1. How many eyes do squids have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. How many arms and tentacles do they have? What are these for?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. What are the squids’ fins for? How about their pens?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. What do squids and octopuses use their ink for?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Refer to the previous discussion to check your answers here.

Did you know that giant squids are the largest invertebrates? Their nerve
fibers are about 50 to 100 times larger than human nerve fibers. Biologists, in
fact, use these to study how the human nerves work.

Squids can swim up to more than 60 m/s. They can move even faster than octopuses!

Let’s Learn

After getting to know the most common kinds of mollusks, let us now try to enumerate
their importance to other living things.
♦ Mollusks provide food for humans, fishes, sea stars and birds.
♦ Their empty shells provide homes for invertebrates such as hermit crabs.
♦ Many species of mollusks produce pearls.
♦ The nervous system of squids and octopuses are used as models for studying how
the human nervous system works in laboratories at present.
♦ Certain species of snails can serve as hosts to parasites.
♦ Empty shells of mollusks can be made into decorative materials.

9
 Let’s See What You Have Learned

Match the terms in Column A with their definitions/descriptions in Column B. Write the
letters of the correct answers only in the blanks.
Column A Column B
____ 1. Mollusk a. A mollusk with a shell consisting of only
one valve
____ 2. Univalve
b. Any of a class of marine mollusks that
____ 3. Bivalve move by expelling water from a tubular
____ 4. Cephalopod siphon under its head
c. The edge of the shell of a mollusk
____ 5. Mantle considered as one ring when counting the
____ 6. Crown rings on its shell
d. The elongated cellophane-like structure
____ 7. Hinge
that is removed from a squid when it is
____ 8. Pen prepared for cooking
____ 9. Gill e. Where the body organs of mollusks are
located
____ 10. Visceral mass
f. Any of a large phylum of invertebrate
animals with soft unsegmented bodies
usually enclosed in calcareous shells
g. Having a shell composed of two valves
h. A fold, lobe or pair of lobes of the body
wall of a mollusk or brachiopod, that in
shell-bearing forms, lines the shell and
bears shell-secreting glands
i. A flexible ligamous joint
j. An organ for obtaining oxygen from
water
Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 34. How well did you do?

10
Let’s Remember

♦ There are more or less 70000 known species of mollusks today.

♦ Mollusks are soft-bodied animals.
♦ There are three groups of mollusks—the univalves, the bivalves and the
cephalopods.
♦ Slugs are examples of mollusks without shells.
♦ Some bivalves produce pearls.
♦ Most mollusks use their muscular feet for locomotion.

11
 LESSON 2

Arthropods

Have you ever been bitten by a mosquito or stung by a bee? If you have, then you can
say you have been attacked by an arthropod. Arthropods are commonly called “joint-
legged” animals. They make up almost 75% of all the different kinds of animals in the animal
kingdom. They can adapt to almost every kind of environment on earth. Insects, shrimps,
spiders and centipedes are all members of the phylum Arthropoda. Arthropoda literally
means “jointed-foot.” Arthropods have jointed appendages including their legs, antennae,
claws and pincers. This lesson will tell you about the different groups of arthropods.

Let’s Study and Analyze

The illustration below shows that insects comprise the majority of arthropods. Which
organisms comprise the minority?

Based on the figure above, we can see that centipedes comprise the minority in the
phylum Arthropoda.

12
 Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials: an insect net or an improvised one, a trowel, a pair of
forceps and a wide-mouthed bottle or small plastic bags.
Look for and catch some arthropods in your garden or backyard. Use the net properly so
as not to damage the specimens. Try to look for specimens in the soil too. Use the trowel for
this. Then take note of the following information for each specimen.

Name of specimen _________________________________

1. a. Symmetry _________________________________
b. No. of body regions _________________________________
c. No. of legs _________________________________
d. Interesting features _________________________________
2. Where found _________________________________
3. a. Motility _________________________________
b. Organ of locomotion _________________________________

In case you were not be able to collect and observe your own specimens, you can go to
a natural museum or an agricultural school near your place. Arthropod specimens are usually
available in their display rooms.
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. How many types of arthropods were you able to observe?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. Which one of the arthropods you collected was the easiest to find?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. What do your arthropod specimens use to move about?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
There are four basic groups of arthropods. The insects are the easiest to find among
them. They use legs to move about.

13
 Let’s Learn

Arthropods possess appendages besides an external covering called the exoskeleton.

The exoskeleton covers, supports and protects an arthropod’s body. This exoskeleton is a
nonliving structure that cannot grow as the animal grows. It is periodically replaced in a
process called molting. The new skeleton is soft at first and takes time to harden. Molting
indicates growth among arthropods.
Arachnids

Tick

Scorpion
Spider

Different kinds of arachnids

Are you familiar with the animals in the picture above? A lot of people are scared of
these animals but not all of them are harmful or poisonous. Ticks and mites are parasitic
arachnids. Mites are very tiny arachnids that are very common on dusty floors and beddings.
Some of them even live in the hair follicles of human eyelashes. Ticks, on the other hand,
attach to the skins of their hosts and feed on their blood. Some ticks spread diseases such as
Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Some species of scorpions are fatal to man. Their bites can
cause death to their victims even after only a few minutes.

Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials: a spider, a pair of forceps and a bottle with a cap
containing ether. Follow these steps:
1. Put the spider in the bottle with ether to immobilize it.
2. After a few minutes, transfer the spider to the bottle cap and start examining its
external parts.

14
 If you were not able to get a spider, just study the illustration below. It will give you an
idea about the external parts of a spider.

Pedipalp

First walking leg

Second walking leg

Prosoma
(Cephalothorax)

Third walking leg

Fourth walking
leg
Opisthosoma
(Abdomen)

Parts of a spider

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. How many body regions does a spider have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. How many legs does it have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. How many appendages near the mouth does it have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Spiders have two body regions—the cephalothorax and the abdomen. They have eight
or four pairs of legs, a pair of pedipalpis appendages that are borne near the mouth and a
pair of chelicerae, one of the anterior pairs of appendages of an arachnid often specialized
as fangs.
There are around 29000 known species of spiders. The largest of these are the
tarantulas of South America. They are around 3 in. wide and 7 in. long. They have poison-
containing glands and an abdominal gland that emits silk through organs called spinnerets.
These are used to spin webs, catch prey and make cocoons. But not all spiders spin webs.

15
 Let’s Learn

Centipedes and Millipedes

What do you know about centipedes and millipedes? Don’t they look like worms at first
glance? But if you take a closer look at them, you will see that they have a pair of legs for
every body segment. These set them apart from worms. Have you ever been bitten by a
centipede or a millipede? This can be a very painful experience. Look at the illustration
below to see the difference between centipedes and millipedes.

Centipede Millipede

How are centipedes different from millipedes?

Centipedes and millipedes both have long segmented bodies, exoskeletons, jointed
legs, antennae and simple eyes. They are terrestrial and prefer to live in moist places.
Centipedes have one pair of jointed legs per segment whereas millipedes have two pairs of
legs per segment. Centipedes move quickly when hunting for food and use a pair of poisoned
claws to inject venom into their prey. They feed on snails, slugs and worms. Their bites can
be very painful to humans. Millipedes, on the other hand, do not move as fast as centipedes.
They feed on plants.

Let’s Review

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. What is the difference between a centipede and a millipede?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. What do centipedes use for hunting their prey?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Refer to the previous discussion to check your answers here.

16
 Let’s Learn

Crustaceans
Do you know what crustaceans are? Your favorite food such as crabs, crayfish, lobsters
and shrimps all belong to the class Crustacea. Crustaceans are aquatic arthropods that have
calcareous or chitinous exoskeletons, pairs of often much modified appendages on each
segment and two pairs of antennae. Sow bugs, the only terrestrial crustaceans, can be found
under decaying logs.

Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials: a fresh shrimp of medium size and a dissecting pan.
Then do the following:
1. Put the shrimp on the dissecting pan and study its parts.
2. Note how many body regions it has.
3. Locate its cephalothorax. Note too its antennae.
4. Now, study its legs and abdomen. What do you call the body parts attached to it?
If you were not able to secure a shrimp specimen, just study the illustration below
showing the external parts of a shrimp.
Answer the following questions briefly.

Antennae
Cephalothorax
Head
Abdomen

Swimmerets

Legs

Parts of a shrimp

17
 1. How many body regions does a shrimp have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. How many antennae does it have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. How many legs does it have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. What are its swimmeretes for?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Shrimps have two main body regions—the cephalothorax and the abdomen. They have
two pairs of antennae—one long and one short. They have a total of ten legs. The first pair
act as claws and the remaining four pairs are used for walking. They also have swimmerets
that help them move as well as reproduce.
There are around 35000 species of crustaceans. They are primarily aquatic although
there are some that are terrestrial. They usually have hard exoskeletons, two pairs of
antennae and mouthparts called mandibles. They use antennae as sensory organs. As in many
crustaceans, their heads and thoraxes are fused together and collectively called the
cephalothorax. They also have abdomens that extend toward their tails.
Another example of crustaceans is the crab, which has a carapace, the first thing you
remove when you eat it located on its dorsal side. On its other side, you will find its
abdomen and thorax. Notice that both of these are segmented. A crab also has very powerful
claws that are used for defense and catching food or prey.
Crustaceans serve as food for humans and are also an important part of the food chain.
Some of their exoskeletons are used as decorative materials as well.

18
 Let’s Learn

Insects
Are you familiar with insects? Insects are the most abundant and most widely
distributed members of the phylum Arthropoda. In fact, no other group of animals has as
many members as the class Insecta. More than 700000 species of insects have already been
identified and about 300000 of this are beetles! Scientists identify thousands more each year.
Try to reflect on the following questions first before continuing your study of insects.
1. What makes insects the most diverse group of animals on earth?
2. Why are insects important?
Insects have a tremendous ability to adapt to their surroundings and variations in
lifestyles. They can live in almost every kind of habitat—from tropical forests to frigid
areas. Their ability to fly also allows them to transfer to new, unexploited habitats and to
escape from predators. This also enables them to have greater access to food and more
desirable environments to live in. Some insects like flies can multiply rapidly. They can
produce a whole new generation every eight to ten days. Female termites can lay more than
one million eggs during their lifetime. A queen bee can lay more or less one million eggs
during her lifetime or more or less 1000 eggs per day.
Insects are not always useful to man though. Some may even be dangerous or fatal
because they serve as carriers of diseases just like some species of mosquitos, flies and
cockroaches.

Let’s Try This

Prepare the following materials: a dissecting pan, a grasshopper with a cotton ball
dabbed in ether alcohol in a sealed bottle and a pointer. Then follow these steps:
1. Put the etherized grasshopper on the dissecting pan and locate the following parts:
a. antennae
b. eyes
c. head
d. thorax
e. legs
f. wings
g. abdomen
2. Determine how many body regions it has.
3. Starting from its head, look at its appendages. How many antenae does it have?
How many eyes? What are its other parts?

19
 If you were not able to obtain a grasshopper specimen, just study the illustration below
and familiarize yourself with its parts.

Wings

Thorax

Antennae

Eye

Head

Abdomen
Legs
Mandible

Parts of a grasshopper

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. How many body regions does an insect have?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. How many legs do they have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. How many pairs of wings do they have?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
4. Into how many segments are their abdomens divided?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
5. Why are they the most abundant animals on earth?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 34. How well did you do?

20
 Different insects reproduce in different ways. For example, male cicadas “sing” to
attract mates. When a male cicada sings, every cicada within hearing distance gather around,
find suitable partners and mate.
Some insects also undergo changes within their life cycles. Study the illustration of the
life cycle of a moth below. See how it undergoes complete metamorphosis unlike
grasshoppers and cockroaches which only undergo incomplete metamorphosis.

Adult
butterfly

Egg

Caterpillar
Butterfly (Larva)
emerging from
chrysalis Caterpillar
beginning to
Chrysalis
pupate
(Pupa)

Life cycle of a moth

21
 Let’s Review

Label the various stages in the life cycle of a moth below.

Compare your work with the illustration in the Answer Key on page 35. How well did
you do?

Let’s Learn

Economic Importance of Arthropods

♦ Most crustaceans like crabs, lobsters and shrimps are taken in as food.
♦ Insects like the silk moth provide silk.
♦ Honey bees are often domesticated to produce beeswax and honey.
♦ Fruit trees, shrubs and flowering plants depend on insects for pollination.

Let’s See What You Have Learned

A. Encircle the letter of the correct answer to each of the following.

1. Which of the following is not an arthropod?
a. spider
b. starfish
c. centipede
d. dragonfly

22
 2. Which of the following is not a characteristic of an arthropod?
a. joint-legged
b. has an exoskeleton
c. capable of molting
d. soft-bodied
3. How many body regions do insects have?
a. one
b. two
c. three
d. four
4. Which of the following is not a crustacean?
a. crab
b. lobster
c. beetle
d. crayfish
5. How many legs do insects have?
a. one pair
b. two pairs
c. three pairs
d. four pairs
B. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Why are certain insects essential to humans?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. Why do some crustaceans have soft shells sometimes?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. Name at least three arthropods discussed in this lesson which may be
dangerous to humans.
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 35. How well did you do?

23
Let’s Remember

♦ Arthropods have exoskeletons made of chitin, jointed appendages and segmented

bodies. They periodically change their exoskeletons as part of their growing
process.
♦ Arachnids have two main body regions—the cephalothorax and abdomen.
♦ Crustaceans are characterized by chitinous exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae
and mandibles.
♦ Centipedes have only one pair of legs per segment while millipedes have two.
♦ Insects have three main body regions—the head, the thorax and the abdomen.

24
 LESSON 3

Echinoderms

Have you ever seen a starfish? Do you know what kind of animal they are? Starfish, sea
urchins, sea cucumbers and sea lilies are echinoderms. The word echinoderm came from the
Greek words echin, meaning “spines” and derma, meaning “skin.” So the term echinoderm
literally means “spiny-skinned.”
Echinoderms have spines covering their bodies. There are about 5000 known species
of echinoderms. They are of various colors, sizes and shapes. Some are orange, blue, bright
red, reddish-brown and white.

Let’s Try This

If you will be given the chance to go to the beach, do the following:

1. First, make sure that it is low tide so that you can go to the deep part of the
shoreline.
2. Observe the spiny-skinned invertebrates that you see.
3. Try to lift one live starfish and observe the tube feet at its ventral side. What are
these used for? Observe another echinoderm, for example, a sea urchin. Be very
careful in handling this animal because it has poisonous spines.
4. Look for sea cucumbers too. What can you say about them?
For better understanding, study the illustration below.

Sea cucumber

Starfish

Sea urchin
Brittle star

Different kinds of echinoderms

25
Sea Stars
Sea stars, often called starfish, have the basic features of echinoderms. They can
easily be found along shorelines. Sometimes, large numbers of them may live together on
rocks or on muddy or sandy bottoms and coral reefs. They are often brightly colored—
orange, red and dark blue. Look at the illustration below and study their parts.

Dorsal side Ventral side

Arms

Central disc
Spines

Mouth

Madreporite
Arm

Tube feet
Anus
Sensory
Ambulacral tentacles
grooves

Parts of a starfish

Starfish are radially symmetrical usually with five arms. However, not all starfish have
five arms, some may have more. They are mostly carnivorous and feed on mollusks like
clams and oysters.
Look at the illustration of an Acanthaster planci below. It has eight arms and is
popularly called the crown-of-thorns. It is one of the major threats to our coral reefs
because it feeds heavily on corals.

Acanthaster planci (crown-of-thorns starfish)

26
Sea Urchins
Just like sea stars, sea urchins are also very colorful. However, these animals do not
have five arms. They are roundish and covered with spines, reaching several inches long in
some species, which they use to move about. Look at the illustration below. We should be
careful in handling them because some species have poisonous spines which can cause fever
and chilling. The Diadema setosum is an example of a poisonous sea urchin.

Sea urchin

Let’s Review

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. Compare seastars with sea urchins.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. What do sea urchins use to move from one place to another?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 35. How well did you
do?

27
 Let’s Learn

Brittle Stars
Brittle stars comprise the largest of the major groups of echinoderms in terms of
number of species and quantity. Their bodies can easily break because they are brittle and
fragile. Like the sea stars, brittle stars are not harmful to people. They abound in all types of
marine habitats even carpeting the shoreline bottoms in many areas. Most of them have five
arms just like sea stars but their arms are more slender and sharply set off from the central
disk. Refer to the illustration below and compare this echinoderm with the other kinds of
echinoderms.

Brittle star

Let’s Try This

Answer the following questions briefly.

1. Compare the brittle star with the other types of echinoderms.
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. How can you tell the dorsal side from the ventral side of a brittle star?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Brittle stars are similar to sea stars in that most of them also have five arms. But there
are other brittle stars that have more than five arms. Their ventral sides contain their mouths.

28
 Let’s Learn

Sea Cucumbers
Sea cucumbers look very much unlike the rest of the echinoderms. They are shaped
like a cucumber, thus their name. They have tentacles just like other echinoderms. They are
mostly smooth except for some which are coarse in texture. They are usually elongated in
shape with a tentacle at one end. They are commonly found along the shore. They vary in
color from black to dark or light brown. They move by means of tube feet. The dried flesh of
sea cucumbers, known as trepang, is a well-known Chinese delicacy.

Sea cucumber

Now that you are familiar with the different kinds of echinoderms, let us discuss their
economic importance.
♦ Sea urchins and sea cucumbers are considered delicacies by many people in many
parts of the world.
♦ The gonads of some sea urchin species are a delicacy in some parts of our country
like Pangasinan.
♦ Scientists are now studying the possibility of using echinoderms as medicines.
♦ Several chemicals extracted from starfish and sea cucumbers are currently being
tested as potential cures for cancer and other viral diseases.
♦ Sea urchins are now being used as models in embryology.

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 Let’s See What You Have Learned

Encircle the letter of the correct answer to each of the following.

1. Which of the following echinoderms do not have marked spines?
a. starfish
b. sea urchins
c. sea cucumbers
d. brittle stars
2. Which of the following echinoderms destroy our coral reefs?
a. clams
b. sea cucumbers
c. crown-of-thorns starfish
d. brittle stars
3. Which among the following echinoderms are a well-known Chinese delicacy?
a. sea cucumbers
b. sea urchins
c. starfish
d. brittle stars
4. What do echinoderms use to move about?
a. tube feet
b. ambulacral grooves
c. tentacles
d. ossicles
5. In which part of a starfish’s body would you find its mouth?
a. in its tentacles
b. in its tube feet
c. on its dorsal side
d. on its ventral side
Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 36. How well did you do?

30
 Let’s Remember

♦ Echinoderms are commonly known as “spiny-skinned” animals.

♦ Brittle stars are the most abundant among all the echinoderms.
♦ Most echinoderms use tentacles to capture their prey.
♦ Sea cucumbers differ in appearance from all the other echinoderms due to the
absence of hard shells.
♦ Crown-of-thorns starfish destroy our coral reefs.
Well, this is the end of the module! Congratulations for finishing it. Did you like it? Did
you learn anything useful from it? A summary of its main points is given below to help you
remember them better.

Let’s Sum Up

This module tells us that:

♦ There are more or less 70000 known species of mollusks today.
♦ Mollusks are soft-bodied animals.
♦ There are three groups of mollusks—the univalves, the bivalves and the
cephalopods.
♦ Slugs are examples of mollusks without shells.
♦ Some bivalves produce pearls.
♦ Most mollusks use their muscular feet for locomotion.
♦ Arthropods have exoskeletons made of chitin, jointed appendages and segmented
bodies.
♦ Arthropods periodically change their exoskeletons as part of their growing
process.
♦ Arachnids have two main body regions—the cephalothorax and abdomen.
♦ Crustaceans are characterized by stony exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae and
mandibles.
♦ Centipedes have only one pair of legs per segment while millipedes have two.
♦ Insects have three main body regions—the head, the thorax and the abdomen.
♦ Echinoderms are commonly known as “spiny-skinned” animals.
♦ Brittle stars are the most abundant among all the echinoderms.
♦ Most echinoderms use tentacles to capture their prey.
♦ Sea cucumbers differ in appearance from all the other echinoderms due to the
absence of hard shells.
♦ Crown-of-thorns starfish destroy our coral reefs.

31
 What Have You Learned?
Answer the following questions briefly.
1. What were the three main groups of invertebrates discussed in this module?
Describe each of them.
a. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
2. What were the three kinds of mollusks discussed in this module? Describe each of
them.
a. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
3. What were the five groups of arthropods discussed in this module? Describe each
of them.
a. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
d. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
e. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

32
 4. What were the four kinds of echinoderms discussed in this module? Describe each
of them.
a. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
c. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
d. _____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

Compare your answers with those in the Answer Key on page 36. How well did you
do? Did you get a perfect score? If you did, that’s very good! You may then study another
module. If you didn’t, don’t worry, just review the parts of the module you didn’t understand
very well before studying a new one.

33
 Answer Key

A. Let’s See What You Already Know (pages 1–2)

1. (c)
2. (b)
3. (b)
4. (d)
5. (d)
6. (a)
7. (c)
8. (a)
9. (d)
10. (d)

B. Lesson 1
Let’s See What You Have Learned (page 10)
1. (f)
2. (a)
3. (g)
4. (b)
5. (h)
6. (c)
7. (i)
8. (d)
9. (j)
10. (e)

C. Lesson 2
Let’s Try This (pages 19–20)
1. The body of an insect is composed of three regions—the head, the thorax and
the abdomen.
2. Insects have six legs.
3. Insects have two pairs of wings.
4. Their abdomens are divided into twelve segments.
5. Insects abound on earth because of their ability to adapt to any type of
environment and reproduce rapidly.

34
 Let’s Try This (page 22)

Adult
butterfly

Egg

Caterpillar
Butterfly (Larva)
emerging from
chrysalis Caterpillar
beginning to
Chrysalis
pupate
(Pupa)

Let’s See What You Have Learned (pages 22–23)

A. 1. (b)
2. (d)
3. (c)
4. (c)
5. (c)
B. 1. Not all insects are harmful, some are useful. Two-thirds of flowering
plants are dependent on insects for pollination. Some plants even live
more intimately with insects than with other plants.
2. Some crabs are soft-shelled because they may have just undergone the
process of molting.
3. Some of these include some species of scorpions, centipedes,
mosquitoes and flies.

D. Lesson 3
Let’s Review (page 27)
1. Sea stars are star-shaped while sea urchins are circular in shape. Sea urchins
have more spines compared to starfish.
2. Sea urchins use tube feet as well as their spines to move from one place to
another.

35
 Let’s See What You Have Learned (page 30)
1. (c)
2. (c)
3. (a)
4. (a)
5. (d)

E. What Have You Learned? (pages 32–33)

1. a. Mollusks are invertebrate animals that typically have soft, unsegmented
bodies with large, flattened muscular feet on the underside and mantles
covering their upper surfaces protected by hard, chalky shells.
b. Arthropods are invertebrate animals of the phylum Arthropoda, the
largest phylum in the animal kingdom.
c. Echinoderms are sea animals belonging to the same family of starfish
and sea urchins noted for having tube feet and body walls strengthened
by calcareous plates.
2. a. Univalves are mollusks which have shells that are in one piece lacking a
hinge as in bivalves.
b. Bivalves are mollusks having shells composed of two valves hinged
together by a ligament.
c. Cephalopods are invertebrate animals belonging to a class of marine
predatory mollusks with highly developed brains and sense organs.
3. a. Arachnids are invertebrate animals belonging to the class which
includes spiders, scorpions, mites, ticks and harvestmen.
b. Centipedes are terrestrial arthropods which have long, rather flat
segmented bodies and usually having either 15 or 23 pairs of legs, one
pair for each body segment.
c. Millipedes are small, wormlike creatures with many-jointed bodies and
numerous pairs of legs.
d. Crustaceans are invertebrate animals belonging to the large class
Crustacea consisting of mainly aquatic arthropods, which typically
possess two pairs of antennae and segmented bodies covered by chalky
carapaces.
e. Insects are invertebrate animals belonging to the class Insecta, typically
having segmented bodies and two pairs of wings.
4. a. Sea stars are marine invertebrate animals that have a number of arms
(usually five) radiating outward from flattened central-disc bodies.
b. Sea urchins are echinoderms that have spherical or heart-shaped shells
covered by sharp protective spines.
c. Brittle stars are starfish-like echinoderms with five long slender fragile
mobile arms radiating from disc-like bodies.
d. Sea cucumbers are sausage-shaped, soft-bodied marine invertebrates
with leathery skins and mouths at one of its ends surrounded by
numerous tentacles.
36
 Glossary

Antenna A sensory appendage on the head of an arthropod.

Anterior At or near the head.
Bivalve A mollusk having two shells or valves.
Carapace A shieldlike plate covering the cephalothorax of a crustacean.
Caudal Belonging to the end part.
Cephalothorax A body region of an arthropod composed of the fused head and
thorax.
Chitin A horny substance that forms part of the cuticle of an arthropod.
Dorsal At or near the back or upper surface of animals.
Endoskeleton A skeleton or supporting framework within the living tissues of an
organism.
Exoskeleton A supporting structure secreted by the ectoderm or epidermis.
Filter feeders Animals that feed by filtering food particles in water.
Larva An immature stage that is quite different from the adult.
Mantle A soft extension of the body wall in an invertebrate.
Molting The periodic casting off of the exoskeleton by an insect.
Pedipalps The second pair of appendages of an arachnid.
Predator An animal that directly attacks and kills its prey for food.
Proboscis A tubular sucking organ of an insect used to suck nectar.
Pupa The inactive stage in the life cycle of an insect.
Radial symmetry A type of symmetry in which the body parts of an animal are
arranged concentrically around a central axis.
Regeneration The ability of an animal to replace (a) lost part/s of its body.
Sessile Attached to the base or fixed to one spot.
Seta A needle-like chitinous structure in the skin of an arthropod.
Tentacles The arms or structures in squids and octopuses used to capture prey and as
defense mechanisms.
Tube feet Numerous small, muscular fluid-filled tubes projecting from the bodies of
echinoderms used for locomotion.
Univalve A mollusk having only one shell or valve.
Valve One of the two shells of a typical bivalve mollusk.

37
 References

Balzer, L. and P. L. Goodson. Introduction to Biology. Glenview, Illinois: Scott,

Foresman and Company, 1986.
Daniel, L., E. Ortleb and Alton Biggs. Merill Life Science. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1994.
Mauseth, James T. Botany. Florida, U.S.A.: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1996.
Miller, K. R. Biology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1991.
Stern, K. R. Introduction to Plant Biology. U.S.A.: Wm. C. Brown Publishers, Inc.,
1994.
Wong, H. K. and M. Dolmatz. Biology: The Key Ideas. New York: Globe Book
Company, Inc., 1986.

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