Echinodermata
Classification: The classification that Echinodermata is under is Deuterostome, a superphylum of animals, and the classifications under Echinodermata are Sea Urchins, Somasteroidea, and Crinozoa.
Diversity: This phylum, Echinodermata, has about 7,00 described living species and about 13,000 extinct species know from fossils on record. This phylum is the largest on there is without any freshwater or terrestrial forms. Even though Echinodermata has a large number of diverse species, all of the various echinoderms that there are, are marine animals. Life History: The larvae in echinoderms are planktotrophic or lecithotrophic. They have 3-part paired coeloms. Ecological Roles: Echinoderms are efficient scavengers of decaying matter on the seafloor, and they prey upon a variety of small organisms, thereby helping to regulate their numbers. Removal of the sea urchins results in the overgrowth of seaweeds and the devastation of the coral reef habitat. Echinoderms can alter the structure of seafloor sediments in a variety of ways. Many sea cucumbers feed by swallowing large quantities of sediment, extracting organic matter as the sediment passes through the intestine, and ejecting the remainder. Human Impact: A lot of the time, Echinodermata is used as food. Some of the larger species of tropical sea cucumbers, known commercially as trepang, are dried and used in soups, particularly in Asia. Raw or cooked mature sex organs, or gonads, of sea urchins are regarded as a delicacy in some parts of the world, including parts of Europe, the Mediterranean region, Japan, and Chile. By Elana Bravo |