CHAPTER 33

INVERTEBRATES

Learning objectives:

Sponges
1. Explain why sponges are considered to be basal animals.
2. Label a diagram of a sponge (including the spongocoel,
choanocyte, mesohyl, amoebocyte, osculum, and spicules).
Describe the function of each part.
3. Describe how a sponge feeds and digests its food.

Cnidaria
4. List the characteristics of the phylum Cnidaria that distinguish
it from other animal phyla.
5. Describe the specialized cells that are found only in Cnidarians.
6. Describe the two variants of the basic body plan in Cnidaria.
Explain the role of each variant in Cnidarian life cycles.
7. List the four classes of Cnidaria and distinguish among them
based on life cycle and morphology.

Lophotrochozoa
8. Describe the features that led to the name of the clade
Lophotrochozoa.
9. List the characteristics of the phylum Platyhelminthes that
distinguish it from the other animal phyla.
10. Distinguish among the four classes of Platyhelminthes.
Name one member of each class.
11. Describe the generalized life cycle of a trematode. Name
one fluke that parasitizes humans.
12. Explain how trematodes evade detection by the immune
systems of their hosts.
13. Describe the anatomy and generalized life cycle of a
tapeworm.
14. Describe unique features of rotifers that distinguish them
from other pseudocoelomates.
15. Define parthenogenesis. Describe how rotifers may
reproduce asexually.
16. Describe a lophophore. Name two lophophorate phyla.
17. List the characteristics that distinguish the phylum
Mollusca from the other animal phyla.
18. Describe the basic body plan of a mollusc and explain how
it has been modified in the Bivalvia, Cephalopoda, Gastropoda,
Polyplacophora, and Cephalopoda.

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 19. Distinguish among the three classes of Annelida and give
an example of each class.
20. Describe the adaptations that enable some leeches to feed
on blood.

Ecdysozoa
21. Describe the feature that led to the name of the clade
Ecdysozoa.
22. List the characteristics of the phylum Nematoda that
distinguish it from other wormlike animals.
23. Give examples of both parasitic and free-living species of
nematodes.
24. List the characteristics of arthropods that distinguish
them from the other animal phyla. List the three features that
account for the success of this phylum.
25. Describe advantages and disadvantages of an exoskeleton.
26. Distinguish between a hemocoel and a coelom.
27. Define and distinguish between the major arthropod
lineages:
a. Cheliceriforms
b. Hexapoda
c. Crustaceans
d. Myriapods
28. Describe an extinct group of cheliceriforms.
29. Describe three specialized features of spiders.
30. Briefly explain four hypotheses for the evolution of insect
wings
31. Describe two features that may account for the great
diversity of insects.
32. Describe the appendages of lobsters and crayfish.

Deuterostomia
33. Describe the developmental similarities between
echinoderms and chordates. Explain why other phyla with
deuterostome development are not included in the clade
Deuterostomia.
34. List the characteristics of echinoderms that distinguish
them from other animal phyla.
35. Distinguish among the six classes of echinoderms and give
examples of each.

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36. Explain why the phylum Chordata is included in a chapter
on invertebrates.

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