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13. Simple life
| 13.22 |
Level III life: Moss
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| Moss Animals, common name for two phyla of small, simple aquatic animals that feed with a crown of tentacles called a lophophore, and usually form attached, mossy colonies. The classification of these two phyla has varied to reflect changing opinions about the relationship of moss animals to other phyla. Authorities who think the two groups have a close common ancestor retain the phylum name Bryozoa for all moss animals and treat endoprocts and ectoprocts as classes within this phylum. Others use the term "Bryozoa" only for ectoprocts, and still others think that ectoprocts are related to the Tentaculata, and endoprocts to the Aschelminthes. | ||
| Endoprocts, which are marine except for the species of one freshwater genus, have a globular body that is mounted on a stalk. The lophophore surrounds both mouth and anus. The animals reproduce both sexually and asexually, often forming colonies of connected individuals by the latter process. In ectoprocts, which are primarily marine, the lophophore does not surround the anus. The colonies that ectoprocts form by asexual reproduction are of varied structure, and each member usually has a hard, protective coating. | ||
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