HEMICHORDATES

1. Hemi means half, so they are half chordates having some of chordate’s characters while lacking others.
2. They are deuterostomes characterized by embryonic development where the first opening (the blastopore)
becomes the anus, in contrast to protostomes where it becomes the mouth.
3. They have radial cleavage.
4. These are bilaterally symmetrical animals.
5. These are true coelomates, so have true coelom.
6. hemichordates are not chordates these are bridge between echinoderms and chordates.
These are not properly chordates nor invertebrates
Some of their features resemble echinoderms while others resemble chordates
7. They live in ocean sediments
We haven’t seen them
These are exclusively marine
8. Body is divided into 3 parts
 proboscis; it is an elongated sucking mouthpart that is tubular and flexible, example like elephant
 collar;
 trunk
9. they have ciliated pharyngeal gills slits. An important characteristic that hemichordates share with chordates is the
pharyngeal gill slits. These gills perforate the pharynx.
10. The notochord is absent in hemichordates and hence are classified under non-chordates.
11. In Hemichordates, there is a dorsal nerve cord, in addition to a smaller ventral nerve cord.
12. The body of hemichordates is worm-like; thus, they are commonly called worm animals.
13. shaped tube.
14. Gill-slits, when present, are paired and one to numerous.
15. Circulatory system simple and well developed; closed type;
16. Excretion by a single glomerulus situated in the proboscis.
1. Differences from Enteropneusta
 Proboscis
 Colonial
 Asexual reproduction (budding)

Hemichordate
The phylum Hemichordata includes
 acorn worms (class Enteropneusta)
 pterobranchs (class Pterobranchia)
Members of both classes live in or on marine sediments.
Characteristics of the phylum Hemichordata include:
1. Marine, deuterostomate animals with a body divided into three regions: proboscis, collar, and trunk;
2. coelom divided into three cavities (tripartite coelom)
3. Ciliated pharyngeal slits
4. Open circulatory system
5. Complete digestive tract
6. Dorsal, sometimes tubular, nerve cord

Class Enteropneusta
1. Members of the class Enteropneusta are marine worms.
2. Size: they usually range in size between 10 and 40 cm, although some can be as long as 2 m.
3. Species: Zoologists have described over 100 species.
4. Burrow: they mostly occupy U-shaped burrows in sandy and muddy substrates between the limits of high and low
tides.
Body parts
1. Proboscis: he common name of the enteropneusts—acorn worms—is derived from the appearance of the
proboscis, which is a short, conical projection at the worm’s anterior end.
2. Ringlike collar: A ringlike collar is posterior to the proboscis,
3. Elongated trunk: elongate trunk is the third division of the body.
Other body features
1. Coelom that is shared feature with hemichordates: Along with the three body regions, the enteropneusts have a
coelom divided into three cavities. This tripartite coelom is a feature the hemichordates share with the
echinoderms.
2. Ciliated epidermis and gland cells: A ciliated epidermis and gland cells cover acorn worms.
3. The mouth is located ventrally between the proboscis and the collar.
4. Varying numbers of pharyngeal slits, from a few to several hundred, are positioned laterally on the trunk.
Pharyngeal slits are openings between the anterior region of the digestive tract, called the pharynx, and the
outside of the body.
5. A small diverticulum of the gut tract called the buccal diverticulum extends into the proboscis. It is a
synapomorphy that unites the Enteropneusta and Pterobranchia within the Hemichordata .
Feeding
Cilia and mucus assist acorn worms in feeding. Detritus and other particles adhere to the mucus-covered proboscis.
Tracts of cilia transport food and mucus posteriorly and ventrally. Ciliary tracts converge near the mouth and form a
mucoid string that enters the mouth. Acorn worms may reject some substances trapped in the mucoid string by
pulling the proboscis against the collar. Ciliary tracts of the collar and trunk transport rejected material and discard it
posteriorly.
The digestive tract of enteropneusts is a simple tube. Food is digested as diverticula of the gut, called hepatic sacs,
release enzymes.
Defecation: The worm extends its posterior end out of the burrow during defecation. At low tide, coils of fecal
material, called castings, lie on the substrate at burrow openings.

The nervous system of enteropneusts is ectodermal in origin and lies at the base of the ciliated epidermis. It consists
of dorsal and ventral nerve tracts and a network of epidermal nerve cells, called a nerve plexus. In some species, the
dorsal nerve is tubular and usually contains giant nerve fibers that rapidly transmit impulses. There are no major
ganglia. Sensory receptors are unspecialized and widely distributed over the body.
Gas exchange: acorn worms are small, respiratory gases and metabolic waste products (principally ammonia)
probably are exchanged by diffusion across the body wall. In addition, respiratory gases are exchanged at the
pharyngeal slits. Cilia associated with pharyngeal slits circulate water into the mouth and out of the body through
the pharyngeal slits. As water passes through the pharyngeal slits, gases are exchanged by diffusion between water
and blood sinuses surrounding the pharynx
The circulatory system of acorn worms consists of one dorsal and one ventral contractile vessel. Blood moves
anteriorly in the dorsal vessel and posteriorly in the ventral vessel. Branches from these vessels lead to open sinuses.
All blood flowing anteriorly passes into a series of blood sinuses, called the glomerulus, at the base of the proboscis.
Excretory wastes may be filtered through the glomerulus, into the coelom of the proboscis, and released to the
outside through one or two pores in the wall of the proboscis. The blood of acorn worms is colorless, lacks cellular
elements, and distributes nutrients and wastes.
5. Reproduction and Development Enteropneusts are dioecious. Two rows of gonads lie in the body wall in the
anterior region of the trunk, and each gonad opens separately to the outside. Fertilization is external..
6. Ciliated larvae, called tornaria, swim in the plankton for several days to a few weeks. The larvae settle to the
substrate and gradually transform into the adult form. The similarity of the tornaria larva to echinoderm larvae
provides one source of evidence of the close evolutionary ties between the hemichordates and echinoderms.
7. Cilia function: A groove lined with cilia lies just in front of the mouth and directs suspended food into the mouth
and may allow the animal to taste.
8. Intestine breathing: They are called intestine breathing animals. Most of the acorn worm is made up of a long trunk
that has gill slits. Oxygenated water is drawn into through the mouth and expelled through these gill slits. In this
way, the acorn worm breathes with part of its gut! 'Enteropneusta' means 'gut breathing'.
9. The primary function of the gill slits of Enteropneusta is to allow the water from the feeding current to escape from
the gut lumen, thus concentrating the food. In addition, they have a respiratory function and apparently also serve
as filters to retain fine particles as water exits the pharynx.
10. Increase in size: Deeper we go more large size acorn worms we’ll find. As they have to face less ocean tides in deep
waters. So, they go to deep waters to prevent themselves from oceans tides.
11. Lack notochord: They lack notochord; however, they have a similar structure stomochord.
Class pterobranchia
 Habitat:
 Class Pterobranchia Pterobranchia is a small class of hemichordates found mostly in deep, oceanic waters of
the Southern Hemisphere.
 A few live in European coastal waters and in shallow waters near Bermuda.
 Most live in secreted tubes in asexually produced colonies.
 Species: Zoologists have described approximately 30 species of pterobranchs.
 Size: Pterobranchs are small, ranging in size from 0.1 to 5 mm.
 Body: As in enteropneusts, the pterobranch body is divided into three regions.
1. The proboscis is expanded and shieldlike. It secretes the tube and aids in movement in the tube.
2. The collar possesses two to nine arms with numerous ciliated tentacles.
3. The trunk is U-shaped.
 Maintenance Functions
Pterobranchs use water currents that cilia on their arms and tentacles generate to filter feed.
Cilia trap and transport food particles toward the mouth.
Although one genus has a single pair of pharyngeal slits, respiratory and excretory structures are unnecessary in
animals as small as pterobranchs because gases and wastes exchange by diffusion.
 Reproduction and Development
Asexual budding is common in pterobranchs and is responsible for colony formation. Pterobranchs also possess one
or two gonads in the anterior trunk. Most species are dioecious, and external fertilization results in the development
of a planula-like larva that lives for a time in the tube of the female. This nonfeeding larva eventually leaves the
female’s tube, settles to the substrate, forms a cocoon, and metamorphoses into an adult.
 Phylum Chordata
1. It is not as diverse as arthropods(53.1%)
2. It have only 45,000 species (without vertebrates)
3. It is most developed phylum.
4. Chordata is a phylum of animals that include vertebrates, which are animals with a backbone or spine, as well
as several groups of invertebrates such as tunicates and lancelets.
5. Members of the phylum chordata share a set of characteristics that distinguish them from other animal group
6. These include
7. Phylum Chordata is classified into three subphyla, namely
a. Urochordata (tunicates)
b. Cephalochordate (lancelets)
c. Vertebrata (vertebrates)
8. Characteristics of phylum chordata
 Bilaterally symmetrical, deuterostomate animals
 A unique combination of five characteristics present at some stage in development:
i. Notochord
ii. pharyngeal slits or pouches
iii. dorsal tubular nerve cord
iv. postanal tail,
v. endostyle or thyroid gland
 Complete digestive tract
 Ventral, contractile blood vessel (heart)
9. Notochord:
The phylum is named after the notochord, a supportive rod that extends most of the length of the animal dorsal to
the body cavity and into the tail. It consists of a connective-tissue sheath that encloses cells, each of which contains
a large, fluid-filled vacuole. This arrangement gives the notochord some turgidity, which prevents compression along
the anteroposterior axis. At the same time, the notochord is flexible enough to allow lateral bending, as in the lateral
undulations of a fish during swimming. In most adult vertebrates, cartilage or bone partly or entirely replaces the
notochord.
in vertebrates including humans the notochord eventually becomes replaced by the vertebral column which
provides structural sport to the body. However remnants of the notochord can still be found in the intervertebral
discs, which are located between adjacent vertebrae.
The notochord is important for inducing the development of the neural tube, which eventually becomes the brain
and spinal cord.

Tubular nerve cord: It is a bundle of nerves running along the “back” and splits into the brain and the spinal
cord. It is hollow and lies dorsal to the notochord
The tubular nerve cord and its associated structures are largely responsible for chordate success. The nerve cord
runs along the longitudinal axis of the body, just dorsal to the notochord, and usually expands anteriorly as a brain.
This central nervous system is associated with the development of complex systems for sensory perception,
integration, and motor response
10. Pharyngeal gill slits: Pharyngeal slits are a series of openings in the pharyngeal region between the digestive tract
and the outside of the body. As described previously, pharyngeal slits are also found in the Hemichordata. These slits
are not unique to the chordates, but they are adapted for use in important and distinctive ways in this phylum. In
some chordates, diverticula from the gut in the pharyngeal region never break through to form an open passageway
to the outside. These diverticula are then called pharyngeal pouches. The earliest chordates used the slits for filter
feeding; some living chordates still use them for feeding. Other chordates have developed gills in the pharyngeal
pouches for gas exchange. The pharyngeal slits of terrestrial vertebrates are mainly embryonic features and may be
incomplete
11. Post anal tail: A fourth chordate characteristic is a postanal tail. (A postanal tail extends posteriorly beyond the anal
opening.) Either the notochord or vertebral column supports the tail .
12. Thyroid glands or endostyle: The fifth characteristic unique to chordates is the presence of an endostyle or thyroid
gland. An endostyle is present on the ventral aspect of the pharynx in tunicates, cephalochordates, and larval
lampreys. It secretes mucus that helps trap food particles during filter feeding. In adult lampreys and other
chordates, the endostyle is transformed into an endocrine structure, the thyroid gland.

Subphylum Urochordata
1. Members are tunicates or sea squirts.
2. They are sessile as adults
3. They are either solitary or colonial.
4. Some are planktonic as adults
5. Habit:
1. Sessile urochordates attach their saclike bodies to rocks, pilings, ship hulls, and other solid substrates.
2. The unattached end of urochordates contains two siphons that permit seawater to circulate through the
body.
3. One siphon is the oral siphon, which is the inlet for water circulating through the body and is usually directly
opposite the attached end of the ascidian.It also serves as the mouth opening.
4. The second siphon, the atrial siphon, is the opening for excurrent water.
6. Body wall, Tunic:
1. Connective tissue like covering: The body wall of most tunicates (L. tunicatus, to wear a tunic or gown) is a
connective-tissue-like covering, called the tunic, that appears gel-like but is often quite tough.
2. Composition: Secreted by the epidermis, it is composed of proteins, various salts, and cellulose.
3. Blood vessel and blood cell in tunic: blood vessels and blood cells, are incorporated into the tunic.
4. Rootlike extensions of the tunic, called stolons, help anchor a tunicate to the substrate and may connect
individuals of a colony.

Maintenance Functions
Longitudinal and circular muscles below the body-wall epithelium help change the shape of the adult tunicate.
The nervous system of tunicates is largely confined to the body wall. It forms a nerve plexus with a single ganglion
located on the wall of the pharynx between the oral and atrial openings. This ganglion is not vital for coordinating bodily
functions.
Tunicates are sensitive to many kinds of mechanical and chemical stimuli, and receptors for these senses are distributed
over the body wall, especially around the siphons. There are no complex sensory organs.
The most obvious internal structures of the urochordates are a very large pharynx and a cavity, called the atrium, that
surrounds the pharynx laterally and dorsally (figure 17.5b). The pharynx of tunicates originates at the oral siphon and is
continuous with the remainder of the digestive tract. The oral margin of the pharynx has tentacles that prevent large
objects from entering the pharynx. Numerous pharyngeal slits called stigmas perforate the pharynx. Cilia associated with
the stigmas cause water to circulate into the pharynx, through the stigmas, and into the surrounding atrium. Water
leaves the tunicate through the atrial siphon.
The digestive tract (gut) of adult tunicates continues from the pharynx and ends at the anus near the atrial siphon. The
endostyle is a ventral ciliated groove that forms a mucous sheet (figure 17.5b). Cilia move the mucous sheet dorsally
across the pharynx. Food particles, brought into the oral siphon with incurrent water, are trapped in the mucous sheet
and passed dorsally. Food is incorporated into a string of mucus that by ciliary action moves into the next region of the
gut tract. Digestive enzymes are secreted in the stomach, and most absorption occurs across the walls of the intestine.
Excurrent water carries digestive wastes from the anus out of the atrial siphon. In addition to its role in feeding, the
pharynx also functions in gas exchange. Gases are exchanged as water circulates through the tunicate. The tunicate
heart lies at the base of the pharynx. One vessel from the heart runs anteriorly under the endostyle, and another runs
posteriorly to the digestive organs and gonads. Blood flow through the heart is not unidirectional. Peristaltic
contractions of the heart may propel blood in one direction for a few beats; then the direction is reversed. The
significance of this reversal is not understood. Tunicate blood plasma is colorless and contains various kinds of amoeboid
cells. Ammonia diffuses into water that passes through the pharynx and is excreted. In addition, amoeboid cells of the
circulatory system accumulate uric acid and sequester it in the intestinal loop. Pyloric glands on the outside of the
intestine are also thought to have excretory functions.
Reproduction
1. Urochordates are monoecious.
2. Gonads are located near the loop of the intestine, and genital ducts open near the atrial siphon.
3. Gametes may be shed through the atrial siphon for external fertilization, or eggs may be retained in the atrium
for fertilization and early development.
4. Although selffertilization occurs in some species, cross-fertilization is the rule.
Development (tadpole larvae): results in the formation of a tadpolelike larva with all five chordate characteristics.
Metamorphosis begins after a brief free-swimming larval existence, during which the larva does not feed. The larva
settles to a firm substrate and attaches by adhesive papillae located below the mouth. During metamorphosis, the outer
epidermis shrinks and pulls the notochord and other tail structures internally

Subphylum Cephalochordata
Members of the subphylum are called lancelets
and about 45 species.
They are distributed throughout the world’s oceans in shallow waters that have clean sand substrates.
Cephalochordates are small (up to 5 cm long), tadpolelike animals.
They are elongate, laterally flattened, and nearly transparent.
In spite of their streamlined shape, cephalochordates are relatively weak swimmers and spend most of their time in a
filter feeding position—partly to mostly buried with their anterior end sticking out of the sand .
The notochord of cephalochordates extends from the tail to the head, giving them their name.
Unlike the notochord of other chordates, most of the cells are muscle cells, making the notochord somewhat
contractile. Both of these characteristics are probably adaptations to burrowing.
Contraction of the muscle cells increases the rigidity of the notochord by compressing the fluids within, giving additional
support when pushing into sandy substrates. Relaxation of these muscle cells increases flexibility for swimming.
Segmentally arranged muscle cells on either side of the notochord cause undulations that propel the cephalochordate
through the water. Longitudinal, ventrolateral folds of the body wall help stabilize cephalochordates during swimming,
and a median dorsal fin and a caudal fin also aid in swimming. An oral hood projects from the anterior end of
cephalochordates. Ciliated, fingerlike projections, called cirri, hang from the ventral aspect of the oral hood and are used
in feeding. The posterior wall of the oral hood bears the mouth opening that leads to a large pharynx. Numerous pairs of
pharyngeal slits perforate the pharynx and are supported by cartilaginous gill bars. Large folds of the body wall extend
ventrally around the pharynx and fuse at the ventral midline of the body, creating the atrium, a chamber that surrounds
the pharyngeal region of the body. It may protect the delicate, filtering surfaces of the pharynx from bottom sediments.
The opening from the atrium to the outside is called the atriopore (see figure 17.6). Maintenance Functions
Cephalochordates are filter feeders. During feeding, they are partially or mostly buried in sandy substrates with their
mouths pointed upward.
Water passes from the pharynx, through pharyngeal slits to the atrium, and out of the body through the atriopore.
Food is initially sorted at the cirri. Larger materials catch on cilia of the cirri. As these larger particles accumulate,
contractions of the cirri throw them off. Smaller, edible particles are pulled into the mouth with water and are collected
by cilia on the gill bars and in mucus secreted by the endostyle. As in tunicates, the endostyle is a ciliated groove that
extends longitudinally along the midventral aspect of the pharynx. Cilia move food and mucus dorsally, forming a food
cord to the gut. A ring of cilia rotates the food cord, dislodging food. Digestion is both extracellular and intracellular. A
diverticulum off the gut, called the midgut cecum, extends anteriorly. It ends blindly along the right side of the pharynx
and secretes digestive enzymes. An anus is on the left side of the ventral fin. Cephalochordates do not possess a true
heart. Contractile waves in the walls of major vessels propel blood. Blood contains amoeboid cells and bathes tissues in
open spaces. Excretory tubules are modified coelomic cells closely associated with blood vessels. This arrangement
suggests active transport of materials between the blood and the excretory tubules. The coelom of cephalochordates is
reduced, compared to that of most other chordates. It is restricted to canals near the gill bars, the endostyle, and the
gonads. Reproduction and Development Cephalochordates are dioecious. Gonads bulge into the atrium from the lateral
body wall. Gametes are shed into the atrium and leave the body through the atriopore. External fertilization leads to a
bilaterally symmetrical larva. Larvae are free swimming, but they eventually settle to the substrate before
metamorphosing into adults.
All of the following are unique to phylum chordata except one
Notochord pharyngeal gill slits post anal tail ventral nerve cord
Tunicate and sea squirts are member of _______.
Cephalochordates circulates blood through?
Which of the following characteristic is used to distinguish urochordates from other chordates?
the development of sexual maturity in larvae is _________.
The oldest fossil of chordates date back__________
What is tunic?
Urochordates ( tunicates and sea squirts ) as ____ as adult.
What is atrium?
What is sirri?
What is atriopore?
What is endostyle?