GENERAL
ZOOLOGY
Module 3
Phylum
Echinodermata
Prepared by: Tingson, Mart A.
Tumbaga, John Mark
Submitted to: Jesus Gonzales
Module 1
Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
• When translated means “prickly skin”,
• This include: starfish, sea cucumbers, basket stars, brittle
stars, sea lilies, etc and has an extremely abundant and
diverse fossil record,
sea cocumbers basket stars sea lilies
starfish
• much more diverse fossil record than species
existing today and all marine;
• found in all oceans at all depths furthermore
almost all are bottom dwellers with a few are
pelagic swimmers
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
• A few are commensal but in general they are not often prey
to other species, mostly drab colors but a few are red,
orange, purple, blue, etc
• More than 1.1 M species; probably millions more there are
more species of insects than all other animal species
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Phylum Echinodermata
Distinctive Characteristics of
Phylum:
A) most with pentamerous or pentaradial radial symmetry
B) no distinct head or brain (no cephalization)
C) most have endoskeleton of calcium plates
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Phylum Echinodermata
Distinctive Characteristics of
Phylum:
D) Unique water vascular system for feeding and
movement
E) Dermal branchiae for gas exchange
F) No real circulatory system
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Phylum Echinodermata
Distinctive Characteristics of
Phylum:
G) no excretory system
H) sense organs poorly developed
I) pedicellariae for protection
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Phylum Echinodermata
Body Form Antedo
m
• The most evident feature: radial
Echinu
symmetry, no distinct head only an oral vs s
aboral surface,
Ophiothr
Holothurio ix
• Radial symmetry is a secondary trait n
because larvae are bilateral then after
metamorphosis they become radial and in
most its pentamerous radial symmetry
Asteri
a
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Body Wall Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Epidermis
outer surface covered by epidermis, made up
of: epithelial cells ciliated mucous cells and
ciliated sensory cells, nerve plexus in basal
part of epidermis.
Dermis
below epidermis is thick dermis, made of
connective tissues with lots of collagen fibers
that secretes skeletal pieces or ossicles which
will be its endoskeleton, ossicles are bony
plates made of calcium crystals and each
ossicle represents a single crystal of
magnesium rich calcite formed within cells of
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Body Wall
• In many classes ossicles have bony projections for
defense unlike any other phylum, echinoderms can
vary rigidity of dermis pliability of collagen fibers
is under nervous control the “catch collagen”
which is soft and pliable to rigid
• It allows animal to hold various postures for long
periods without muscular effort, beneath dermis is
layer of outer circular and inner longitudinal
muscle true coelom lined with peritoneum
• radial symmetry is a secondary trait because
larvae are bilateral then after metamorphosis they
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Movement
• movement & food gathering done predominantly
by water vascular system while a second, separate
coelomic compartment unique to echinoderms,
derived from coelom and lined with ciliated
epithelium, the whole system operates
hydraulically, filled with fluid (mainly sea water
and some proteins and cells
• The internal canals connect to the outside through
the madreporite), leads to stone canal (contains
calcareous deposits) joins ring canal just inside
and around the mouth, long radial canals extend
into each arm, in arm, lateral canals branch off
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
• Have valves to prevent backflow, lead to Tube
small muscular sacs that serve as fluid feet
reservoirs the ampullae
• Connected to muscular tube feet, tube feet
are concentrated in ambulacral groove the
tip of the tube feet are flattened, forming
suckers suctionlike cups can produce strong
force
• The tube feet used to cling to substrates,
move and to feed, in most echinoderms don’t
have large muscles, muscles mainly used to
move tube feet but some also attached to
ossicles to allow them to bend and flex, water
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Moveme
nt
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Feeding & Digestion
• Echinoderms are particle
feeders, scavengers or
predators with no parasitic
species, they have simple,
usually complete digestive
tract but functional anus is
often reduced
• Its stomach has 2 chambers:
cardiac & pyloric digestive
enzymes are secreted into
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Circulation
• Echinoderms rely mainly on
coelomic circulation for
transport of gasses and
nutrients
• ciliated lining circulates fluids
around body cavity and into
dermal branchiae, coelomic
fluid contains amoeboid cells,
• they do have a blood vascular
system the hemal system with
heart but its usually
rudimentary is rudimentary
and its function unclear and
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
• Nervous System
• Echinoderms don’t have brain or
centralized processing area only circumoral
ring and radial nerves branching from it
helps coordinate movement of arms and
movement of the starfish in general,
• tube feet are innervated by nervous
system this enables all feet to move in
single direction
• Some few specialized sense organs have
some simple tactile, chemical and
photoreceptors and statocysts
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Protection
in many starfish the body surface bears small jaw-
like pedicellariae, some are stalked, some sessile
(unstalked) protect against animals and debris that
settle on the animals surface
Excretion
The removal of nitrogen wastes (mainly ammonia)
is through the body surface, dermal branchiae and
tube feet
eIn some amoeboid cells can also engulf nitrogen
wastes and move them to the outside through the
dermal branchiae or tube feet
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Reproduction &
Development
Echinoderms sexes
typically separate or
dioecious with external
fertilization, produce
characteristic ciliated,
free-swimming,
planktonic larva or
bipinnaria, bilateral
symmetry they undergoes
metamorphosis to become
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Ecology
A wide variety of other
animals make their homes
in or on echinoderms,
including: algae,
protozoa, ctenophores,
turbellaria, barnacles,
copepods, decapods,
snails, clams,
polychaetes, fish and
other echinoderms
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Echinoderm Classification
Class: Asteroidea SEA
(starfish, sea stars, sea DAISIES
daisies),
SEA
STAR
STARFIS
H
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Class: Ophiuroidea
(brittle stars, basket stars,
serpent stars)
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Class: Echinoidea
(sea urchins, heart urchins,
sand dollars & sea biscuits)
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Economic/Human
Impacts
A) echinoderms never attack humans,
don’t transmit any diseases,
although handling poisonous forms
can kill
B) “crown of thorns” starfish
destroys Pacific coral reefs, feed on
coral polyps, sometimes attack in
“herds”, the number of reef attacks
is increasing that sometimes results
in extensive damage and these are
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Economic/Human
Impacts
C) sea urchins destroy kelp
forest but are preyed on by
sea otters
D) predatory starfish can
devastate commercial clam or
oyster beds but sometimes an
infestation is treated with
quicklime
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
Economic/Human Impacts
E) as food: in China and Pacific Islands sea
cucumbers are boiled and dried and eaten as a
delicacy or used as a food flavoring in some
areas collecting has severely depleted their
populations
another echinoderm use for food is roe (gonads
& eggs) are sold, raw or roasted, as a delicacy in
Japan and in sushi restaurants with 30M pounds
of urchins were harvested in 1986
F) echinoderms have been widely used in
developmental research “we know more about
the embryology of echinoderms than probably
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Major Phylum of the Animal Kingdom
“If there are animals from another planet
already here, they’re probably starfish.”
“Echinoderms are the Bohemians of the
animal kingdom”
-Burnet & Matsen
