Invertebrates

Animals without backbone.

Include the lower forms of animals which have their own characteristics.

One-celled animals

Are called protozoans.

Are the simplest animals.
They are called microscopic.
They can breathe, move, eat and reproduce.
E.g. paramecia and amoeba

I.Sponges

Are called poriferans

Are the simplest invertebrates and the simplest among the one-celled animals.
Their cells are arranged in two layers.
They have no arms, heads, mouths, stomachs and other organs.
Most of them live in the ocean while others are found in fresh water.
They are aquatic invertebrates with bodies full of small holes called pores.
They cannot move but are fastened to something such as rocks and underwater plants
so they are called sessile animals
Many sponges taste and smell bad for their predators.
They are radially symmetrical meaning their bodies can be divided into two equal
parts.
Some of them have tiny, hard skeletons called spicules while others have flexible
skeleton called spongin which has protein.
They reproduce asexually and have the ability to regenerate.

II. Mollusks

Are called soft-bodied animals with no segments.

They are bilaterally symmetrical.
They have special fold of tissues called mantle.
Their bodies are kept moist to stay alive.
They have prominent eyes.
Mollusks are used mainly for food but their shells are made into useful products.
The best known mollusks products are the pearls made by oysters.
Some of them are harmful to people. Some freshwater snails carries worms that can
cause diseases.
 A few mollusks have no shells like the squids and octopuses.
A squid has arms that have suction disks which are used in capturing their prey.
Squid and octopuses seem to have many legs but they have only one foot that
separates into which they use in walking and eating their prey.

Kinds of Mollusks:
Mollusks are classified into smaller groups by the kind of shells they have

a. One-shelled mollusks or univalves

Eg: snails

b. Bivalves : have two outer shells

E.g.:clams, oyster, mussels and scallops.

III. Echinoderms

They are also called spiny-skinned animals.

They are aquatic invertebrates with a radially symmetrical body covered by an outer
skeleton.
They are found in the ocean, specifically on the ocean floor.
A unique characteristic of echinoderms is the water vascular system inside their bodies.
Their bodies usually have five sections.
They use their tube feet to walk along the ocean bottom.
Tube feet are hollow structures with suckers at the end.
They have the ability to regenerate.

Eg : starfish