PHYLUM

ECHINODERMATA
PHYLUM ECHINODERMATA
• Means “Spiny Skinned”
• There are approximately 7,000
species
• ALL are found in marine
habitats. There are NO
freshwater or terrestrial
organisms in this phylum.
PHYLUM ECHINODERMATA

 Pentaradial Symmetry

 Water-vascular symmetry

 Nervous system: nerve net,

nerve ring, radial nerves
(“no brain”)
PHYLUM ECHINODERMATA

 Calcerous
endoskeleton in the
form of osicles
PENTARADIAL SYMMETRY
• Larvae have Bilateral
symmetry
• Adults have pentaradial
symmetry
-Body parts are arranged in
five(or multiple of five)
-Arrangement around
oralaboral axis
ECHINORMATA LARVAE
WATER- VASCULAR
SYTEM
• Unique to echinoderms
• Series of water-filled canals with extensions
called tube feet
• Originates as a modification of coelom
• Ring can surround the mouth, opens to the
outside through a stone canal and an
opening called madreporite
Ring can surround the mouth, opens to
the outside through a stone canal and an
opening called madreporite.
WATER- VASCULAR SYTEM
• Tube feet are extensions of the
canal system and emerge
through skeletal ossicles
• Internally: tube feet end in a bulb
like muscular ampulla.
• Ampulla contracts and forces
water into tube foot which then
extends
WATER- VASCULAR SYTEM
WATER- VASCULAR SYTEM
USES

 Used primarily in locomotion

 For Feeding

 Allows gas exchange and diffusion of nitrogen.

NERVOUS SYSTEM
• They don’t have brain , they have nerve ring that
surrounds the mouth and radial nerves that connects it
to the body sections
• Have sense cells that detect food
• Starfish have light-sensitive cells at the tip of each arm,
which is called ocelli.
• Some have statocyst
-Tell organisms if it is ride side up
SO THAT’S WHY HE’S DUMB!1!11!
Radial Nerves
ocelli
REPRODUCTION
• Usually separate sexes although some are hermaphrodites
• Sexual: Dioecious-
-having the male and female reproductive organs in separate
individuals.

• Asexual:
-They reproduce via fragmentation. They can regenerate from
broken parts.
5 CLASSES OF
ECHINODERMATA

1. Asteroidea

2. Ophiuroidea

3. Echinoidea

4. Holothuroidea

5. Crinoidea
CLASS ASTEROIDEA

• Means “star-shaped”
• ~Includes 1500 species
• Most live in hard substrates
• Most are brightly colored
CLASS ASTEROIDEA
- CHARACTERISTICS
• Usually have five arms that radiate from the center
• Has movable and fixed spines
• Oral and aboral surface
CLASS ASTEROIDEA—
MOVEMENT
Sea star tube feet move in a stepping motion
coordinated by the nervous system
• Alternate extension, attachment and contraction
• All tube feet move in the same direction but not in
unison
CLASS ASTEROIDEA— FEEDING
Starfish are typically predatory animals. They move along the bottom of
the sea searching for immobile or slow prey, such as clams and mussels.
Starfish are able to squeeze into tiny openings, making them efficient at
opening the shells of mollusks.
For digestion, many starfish function in an unusual way. Starfish have a
flat, pentagonal pyloric stomach over another stomach, called the cardiac
stomach.
When starfish eat, they extend their cardiac stomachs out of their bodies
over prey. After the prey is digested a bit outside, the starfish brings its
stomach back inside again for glands to finish the process.
Some starfish also prey upon corals. This can lead to significant coral reef
destruction. One such culprit is the Crown of Thorns starfish
(Acanthaster).
CROWN OF THORNS STARFISH
CLASS ASTEROIDEA-
REGENERATION
• Capable of regeneration
• In some cases, an entire sea
star can regenerate from a piece
of a broken arm
• But… broken part must contain portion
of central disk.
• Complete regeneration may
take up to year
CLASS ASTEROIDA-
REPRODUCTION
• External fertilization

• Asexual:
-They reproduce via fragmentation. They can regenerate
from broken parts.
 CLASS OPHIUROIDEA
• “Snake tail”
• Over 2,000 species
• Most diverse group
• Includes brittle stars and basket
stars
• Tube feet do not have suction disk
• Central disk has pentagonal shape
CLASS OPHIUROIDEA

• Water vascular system is NOT used for locomotion

• Ossicles are modified to permit a unique form of
grasping and movement
• Result is snake-like locomotion
• Tube feet do not have suction disks
 CLASS OPHIUROIDEA
Feeding Maintenance
• Predators and scavengers • Capable of regenration
• Use arms and tube feet to sweep • Dioecious, males are smaller
plankton. and often carried by females
CLASS ECHINOIDEA
• ~1,000 species
• “Spiny- shaped”
• Incudes sea urchins, sand
dollars and heart urchins
• Attach to hard substances or
burrow in the sand
• Use spines to push againsy
substrate to move
CLASS ECHINOIDEA
Feeding
• Feed on algae, coral polyps and
dead animal remins
• Specialized chewing apparatus:
Aristotle’s Lantern
Reproduction & Development
• Dioecious
• Gametes shed into water
• External fertilization
• Larva undergoes
metamorphosis
CLASS HOLOTHUROIDEA
• “Sea cucumber
• ~1,500 species
• Includes the sea cucumbers
• Capable of evisceration.
• Tube feet enlarged and highly
modified
• Locomotion using tube feet is
inefficient so they have to contract
body- wall muscles resulting to
worm-like movements.
EVISCERATION
Evisceration is a method of
autotomy involving the
ejection of internal organs
used by animals as a
defensive strategy.
Sea cucumbers  eject parts
of the gut in order to scare
and defend against potential
predators such as crabs and
fish.
 CLASS CRINOIDEA
• ~630 species
• Includes Sea Lilies and Feather stars
• Most primitive of all living echinoderms
• Sea lilies attach permanently to
substrate by a stalk
• Feather stars crawl by pulling with the
tips of their arms
• They lack nerve ring but do have nerve
mass and radial nerve that extend each
arm.