Minor Phyla

Onychophora, Tardigrada, Phoronidae, Chaetognatha

What is the scientific name for velvet worms?

Onychophora

What is the common name for Onychophora?

Velvet worms

Where do velvet worms live?

Terrestrial environments, namely tropical regions - Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, South and Central America, West Africa, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand

What do velvet worms eat and how do they feed?

They eat arthropods. They feed by shooting a glue-like substance from their papillae beneath their antennae onto their prey

What is a unique features of velvet worms?

Papillae that shoot a glue-like substance to hunt prey

What is the scientific name for water bears?

Tardigrada

What is the common name of Tardigrada?

Water bears

Where do water bears live?

Ubiquitous, living in marine, freshwater, and terrestial environments

What do water bears eat and how do they feed?

They eat bacteria, plant cells, cyanobacteria, microalgae, fungi, protozoans, and small invertebrates. They use sharp stylets near their mouth and a muscular pharynx to feed

What is a unique feature of tardigrades?

They can enter a cryptobiotic tun state, where they dehydrate themselves and slow their metabolism down to 0.01% capacity, allowing them to tolerate extreme conditions for years at a time

What is the common name for Phoronida?

Horseshoe worms

What is the scientific name for horseshoe worms?

Phoronida

Where do horseshoe worms live?

They live attached to or buried in marine sediments

What do horseshoe worms eat and how do they feed?

They are suspension feeders that catch plankton and organic particles from the water with their ciliated lophophore

What is a unique feature of horseshoe worms?

They have a u-shaped digestive tract, giving them their namesake

What is the scientific name for arrow worms?

Chaetognatha

What is the common name for Chaetognatha?

Arrow worms

Where do arrow worms live?

Photic zone of marine and brackish waters (pelagic)

What do arrow worms eat and how do they feed?

They are ambush predators that use tetrodotoxin and switchblade-like anterior and posterior teeth to subdue prey. They eat copepods, zooplankton, other arrow worms, and small fish

What is a unique feature of arrow worms?

They migrate vertically daily - they rise at night to feed, and then sink during the day to avoid predators