https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=YX2enReeU-4

ENTOPROCTA are aquatic protostomes that are between 0.7 – 7mm tal.
They have thrived on earth since the early cambrian period. Most of the species are colonial.
However, some have been found t olive solitary lifestyles.
Entoprocta attach themselves to rocks, shells, and other animals and then remain sedentary for
the resto f their lives.
The phylum has also been called kamptozoa, meaning “bendind animal” because some species can
glide over the ground.
Some species reproduce by ejecting unfertilized ova into the water. Others keep ova in chambers
until the larva Hatch. Some also reproduce by cloning.
They feed on phytoplankton and other small organisms by generating a water current with their
tentacles and drawing food towards their mouth.
The life cycle of entoprocta stars out with eggs hatching into larva. Also during metamorphosis,
tentacles form and evolutionary, entoprocta got smaller over time.
They also secondarily lsot scale like structures
Qhen entoprocta were first discovered, they were classified as bryozoa, but in 1859, scientists
gave them their own phylum
This is a phylogenetic tree created using data from a morphological matrix of characteristics
This tree shows tha entopoctra are most closely related to sea stars, sea, cucumbers, earthworms,
perch, squid and crayfish.
This tree is not very accurate because it is based off of characteristics and not genetic information
We also choose additional characteristics to compare which were arbitrary because we could have
chosen any characteristics
This is phylogenetic tree created using the 16s genetic sequuence of the different phylums.
The entoprocta phylum can be seen to be most closely related to annelida, arthropoda and
mollusca.
This is because they are all protostomes which means their mouth develops before their anus.
This tree is the most accurate because the comparison is based off of genetics
This phylogenetic tree published in a 2011 journal article in which entoprocta is the sister taxon of
cycliophora and the two taxa are most closely related to bryozoa which includes ectoprocta
However, in 1977 simon conway provided a description of Dinomischus which he claimed to be
the earliest know entoproct.
Entoprocta possibly branched off from bryozoa as it was able to function without a coelom, adapt
to from ciliated tentacles, and retain mosto f its larval structures. Similar to comparing it whit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YLm-TLx7SM

a unique phylum that is distinguishable by their bilateral symmetry, their two cell layers of tissue
organization, and pseudocoelomic body cavity. This means that they have no true body cavity and
their internal lining comes from their blastocoel.

They are invertebrates and have no circulatory Exchange system or organs that allow gaseous
Exchange of air, indicating that they are fairly primitive phylum.
Entoprocta originally were a parto f a larger phylum, but differences in the anus positioning,
embryonic cleavage, and body cavity, caused scientists to reclassify entoprocta as its own phlylum

Within the phylum, there are two main orders. Solitaria and coloniales

The solitaria Group mainly stays by itself and is know to have commensal, or symbiotic,
relationships with sponges coloniales, on the orther hand, are know t olive in groups, allowing for
efficient food gathering and reproduction

However, the phylum can also be further broken down between those that live in saltwater and
those that live in freshwater

There are two freshwater species that exist. Loxosomatoides sirindhornae and urnatella gracilics.

Entoprocta have been found at depths of up to 500 m below the Surface, but are not common
here. They typically live on rocks, shells, and underwater structures in tidal environments or in
shallow, brackish Waters, where saltwater and freshwater.

For Entoprocta, such as solitaria, the main mode of movement is by swimming. Their many tecles ,
covered with cilia, allow for beating of the water, more efficient feeding. Their u-shape gut has
two openings, witg a mouth and an anus, which means they have a complete digestive system

However, it is more common for entoprocta to be sessile suspensión feeders, attaching to a

Surface and filtering food particles and microscopic organisms out of the water.

Here, their cilia facilitate the process of feeding by wrapping araund tiny food particles like
phytoplankton and moving them towards their mouth.