Chordates

Chordate Cladogram
Chordates
What is a chordate?
1. Has either a backbone or a notochord (vertebrate)
2. Can either be an ectotherm or an endotherm
Endotherm (warm blooded)
Has a stable body temperature
Ectotherm (cold blooded)
Can change body temperature due to the
environment

3. Only 4-5% of animals are chordates

Characteristics of Chordata
Deutorosomes, Bilaterally Symmetrical
 Four key characteristics:
 Notochord - skeletal
 Dorsal, hollow nerve cord - CNS
 Pharyngeal slits or clefts – “gills”
 Muscular, post-anal tail
Tunicates Overview
Tunicates are members of the subphylum Urochordata
 Nicknamed "Sea Squirts"
 Has body cavity that holds the atrium
 Bilaterally Symmetrical
 Nervous system degenerates after larval stage. Some cells detect light and
gravity allowing it to settle on a substrate. Limited nervous system in adult
stage. 
• Member of Urochordata subphylum
• Nicknamed "Sea Squirts"
• Similar to other chordates while in larva stage
• Uses tail muscles and notochord to swim 
• Settles on substrate
• Light and gravity cues
• Radical metamorphosis where Chordate
characteristics disappear
• Bilaterally Symmetrical
Digestive, Excretory, and Circulatory Systems
 Incurrent siphon sucks water
 Atrium filters food
 Water and waste excreted through excurrent siphon
 Food travels from esophagus to stomach
 Siphons also function as circulatory system
Digestive and Execratory system:
• Incurrent siphon to bring in water passes through pharyngeal
slits into atrium that filters particles of water.
• The filtered water then passes out an excurrent siphon.
• The atrium has a mucous net that traps food particles and cilia
that transports them to the esophagus.
• Food travels from esophagus to stomach and after it is
process it leaves through the intestine and finally the anus and
excurrent siphon.

Circulatory System:
• Circulates water with incurrent and excurrent siphons.
• The water is sucked in and it brings other stuff with it.
• The two siphons are the only modes of absorption and
excretion.
Locomotion/Musculature

 Uses tail muscles and notochord to swim as a larvae

 Excurrent siphon can do jet propulsion

Skeletal Type/Sensory Structures

 Larval stage has notochord and dorsal, hollow nerve chord

 In adult form the skeleton is lost and resorbed
 Light and gravity sensing cells
Gas Exchange

Water is sucked in and pushed out through siphons

Diffusion

Reproduction

 Hermaphrodite = both male/female

 Settles on substrate
 Light and gravity cues
 Chordate characteristics disappear as adult
Sample Example Organisms

Class: Ascidiacea
Order: Pleurogona
Suborder:
Stolidobranchia
Family: Pyuridae
Genus: Halocynthia
Species: H. roretzi
Sea Pineapple
Lancelets/Cephalochordata
 Amphioxus / Branchiostoma
 In the larval form lancelets develop a notochord, a dorsal, hollow
nerve cord, numerous pharyngeal slits, and a post-anal tail.
 Body Cavity is present.
 Bilateral Symmetry
 Feed on plankton.
 Adult lancelets up to 5 cm long
 Frequently swim to new locations
 Lanclets- globally rare
Nervous System

 Lancelets develop a hollow nerve cord

 Have slightly swollen tip on the anterior end of their dorsal
nerve cord
 However, no true brain
Circulatory System

 Water enters mouth and passes through the pharyngeal slits

into the atrium
 The atrium is a chamber that vents to the outside by way of
the atriopore
 No heart and blood cells
Digestive System/Excretory System

 Mucous net around pharyngeal slits remove small food

particles from seawater
 Ciliary pumping draws these particles into the mouth
 Trapped food enters the intestine
 Food finally leaves through anus
Locomotion/Musculature

 Swimming mechanism of fishes

 Coordinated contraction of muscles
 Serially arranged segmental muscles 
o Muscle segments develop from blocks of mesoderm-
Somites
 Undulatory (wavelike) movements
Skeletal Type/Sensory Structures

 As larvae develop a dorsal, hollow nerve cord and notochord

 Somites found along each side of notochord
 Tentacles by mouth act as sensory devices, and as a water
filter
 No eyes, or complex sensory structures
Reproduction

 Sexual Reproduction
 Lanclets have separate sexes - Male & Female
 Eggs and Sperm released into water
 Fertilized eggs develop into larvae
Gas Exchange

 Diffusion across external body surface

 Pharynx and Pharyngeal slits play a minor role in gas
exchange
• Lancelets are globally rare, but can reach large densities (5000/m2) in
areas like Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the
Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida,