Unit 5

Invertebrates
Invertebrates
• They do not have a vertebral column or an internal skeleton.
• Some have a covering which protects their body (shell or
exoskeleton).
• Their body is divided into three parts: head, trunk and
extremities.
• They may or may not be symmetrical.
Poriferans
 Poriferans
Sponges or poriferans are
either not symmetrical or
have a radial symmetry.

They are aquatic animals (the

majority are marine animals)
that live attached to a
substrate (a rock, the seabed,
another animal, etc.)
 Poriferans
Poriferans have bodies with
perforations called pores.
Water passes through these pores
and reaches an internal cavity
called the atrium.
It then passes out through an
upper hole called the osculum.

Sponges have bodies that are supported by a

skeleton made of tiny needle-like structures
called spicules, or of sponging fibres.
 Poriferans
Sponges are filter feeders: they feed on
tiny organisms in the water that they
trap as the water enters through their
pores and circulates around their body.

Sponges come in many colours. Their

skeletons have been used for personal
hygiene since ancient times.
Cnidarians
 Cnidarians
Cnidarians are animals with
radial symmetry.

Most of them live in the sea, although there are some

freshwater species.
 Cnidarians
Cnidarians have bag-shape bodies. Their
internal cavity, the gastrovascular cavity, acts as
a stomach and is connected to the outside via a
hole that acts as both a mouth and anus. This
hole is surrounded by tentacles.
 Cnidarians
These animals come in two different forms:
 Polyps (hydrae, anemones, coral, etc.): Live attached
to the substrate. They are bag-shape and their mouth
is at the top.

Hydra Anemones

Coral
 Cnidarians
These animals come in two different forms:
 Jellyfish: They float around the sea. Their bodies are
umbrella-shape and their mouth is underneath.
 Cnidarians
Cnidarians have cells, called cnidocytes,
on their tentacles, which they use to
catch their prey.
When prey brushes against it, the
cnidocytes shoots out a thread which
releases a poisonous substance that
paralyses its prey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu_ijC8HFRU
Worms
 Worms
The term worm covers
animals with very long,
soft bodies that do not
have skeletons, are
bilaterally symmetrical,
and which belong to
different groups of
invertebrates.
 Worms
Some of the main groups of worms are:

• Platyhelminthes
• Nematodes
• Annelids
 Worms
• Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
They are worms with flat bodies (flatworms).

Most of them are parasites (they feed at expense of

another organism, causing it irritation or illness).
Other live independently, and are usually aquatic.
 Worms
• Platyhelminthes
 Parasitic platyhelminthes: tapeworms
Tapeworms are one of the parasites that affect humans.
They are worms between 2 and 8 metres long.
They have a head, called the
scolex, and hundreds of
flattened rings.
They also have a set of hooks
and suckers on the scolex that
they use to attach themselves to
the walls of the intestines.
 Worms
• Platyhelminthes
 Parasitic platyhelminthes: tapeworms
 Worms
• Platyhelminthes
 Non-parasitic platyhelminthes: planarians
Planarians are very small (just a few centimetres long).
These organisms are very fragile, but they are capable of
regenerating lost body parts.
 Worms
• Nematodes
They are worms with a
cylindrical body that is
thinner at the ends than in
the middle.
 Worms
• Nematodes
Most nematodes live in water or damp ground.
Although the most well-known ones are parasites,
such as intestinal worms that infect the intestines of
humans.
 Worms
• Annelids (segmented worms)
They are worms with a cylindrical body, which is
made up of a series of equal segments. In each
segment some organs are repeated, such as the
excretory organs.
 Worms
• Annelids
Most annelids are aquatic ( such as the sandworm).
 Worms
• Annelids
But the most well-known, the earthworm, is terrestrial.
- The body of earthworm is long
and soft, and each ring has some
little hairs on it, called setae,
which they use to move.
- Earthworms are hermaphrodites,
and they breathe through their
skin (cutaneous respiration).
 Homework
1. Draw in your notebook a sponge (cnidarian)
and label its parts (pores, osculum, atrium and
choanocytes)
2. Draw in your notebook a polyp and a jellyfish
and label their parts (gastrovascular cavity,
mouth, tentacles)
3. Explain how cnidocytes help cnidarians to
catch their prey.
 Homework
1. Make an outline with the three types of worms
(use drawings to improve your outline)
2. Exercise 2 (page 80)
3. Exercise 3 (page 81)
Molluscs
 Molluscs
Molluscs are aquatic or terrestrial invertebrates
with bilateral symmetry that, in most cases,
have a protective shell.
 Molluscs
Mollusc have the following body parts:
• A head, which contains sense organs for exploring their
environment.
• A visceral mass, where the internal organs are found.
This visceral mass is covered with a sheet of tissue,
called the mantle.
• A muscular foot, which is a different shape for different
groups, and is used for moving, digging or catching prey.
 Molluscs
The main types of molluscs are:

 Gastropods

 Bivalves

 Cephalopods
 Molluscs
 Gastropods
They have the following characteristics:
• Most of them have a shell coiled in a
spiral shape.

• They have a large, very muscular

foot that they use to move

• They have a well-developed head. In their

mouth they have a scraper organ, called a
radula, which they use to feed themselves.
 Molluscs
 Gastropods
They have the following characteristics:
• If they are terrestrial animals, they breathe with lungs.
And if they are aquatic they use gills.

• Most gastropods are herbivores.

 Molluscs
 Gastropods
Some examples of gastropods are:
Land snails Slugs

Sea snails Limpets

 Molluscs
 Bivalves
They have the following characteristics:
• Their shell is formed by two
valves, and they use muscles to
close these together.
• Their foot, in the shape of a
wedge, is used to move and dig.
• Their head is not well defined.
 Molluscs
 Bivalves
They have the following characteristics:
• They breathe through gills.

• They feed by filtering water and

taking tiny living things from it.

• Some have a mass of filaments,

called a byssus, which they use
to attach themselves to rocks.
 Molluscs
 Bivalves
Some examples of bivalves are:
Mussels Clams Cockles

Oyster Razor shells

 Molluscs
 Cephalopods
They have the following characteristics:

• Most of them do not have a shell, or just have a

small internal shell, called a gladius (or pen),
which looks like a sheet of plastic.
 Molluscs
 Cephalopods
They have the following characteristics:
• In the head they have two well-
developed eyes (camera-type eyes)

• Instead of a foot, they have a set of

tentacles around the mouth.
 Molluscs
 Cephalopods
They have the following characteristics:
• They breathe through gills.

• They are carnivores and active hunters.

They catch the prey and put them in
their mouth where they crush them
with a mandible called a beak, similar
in shape to a beak of a parrot.

• They move by spraying jets of water. https://www.youtube.com/wa

tch?v=O43hgHGn4KQ
 Molluscs
 Cephalopods
 Molluscs
 Cephalopods
Some examples of cephalopods are:

Squids Octopuses Cuttlefish

Molluscs
 Homework
• Exercises 1 and 2 (page 82)
• Exercise 3, 4 and 5 (page 83)
• Make an outline with the three main types
of mollusc.
Arthropods
 Arthropods
 They are invertebrates with bilateral symmetry.

 They have their bodies protected by a rigid shell

(the exoskeleton).
 Arthropods
 They have jointed appendages (legs, mandibles,
antennae, etc.)
 Arthropods
The body of arthropods
Arthropods have segmented bodies that can be one
of three types:
1. They can be divided into a head, a thorax and an
abdomen.
 Arthropods
The body of arthropods
Arthropods have segmented bodies that can be one
of three types:
2. They can be divided into a cephalothorax (fused
head and thorax) and an abdomen
 Arthropods
The body of arthropods
Arthropods have segmented bodies that can be one
of three types:
3. They can be divided into a head and a trunk.
 Arthropods
Types of eyes in arthropods
They can have two types of eyes:

• Simple eyes

• Compound eyes
 Arthropods
Respiratory system in arthropods

 Aquatic arthropods
breathe through gills

 Terrestrial
arthropods mainly
breathe through
tracheae.
 Arthropods
Reproduction in arthropods
Arthropods are oviparous (the embryo develops
inside an egg, which is expelled outside)
 Arthropods
Reproduction in arthropods
Some arthropods undergo one of two types of
metamorphosis: incomplete or complete
 Incomplete metamorphosis
A nymph, an immature specimen similar to an adult,
hatches from an egg and grows and moults its
exoskeleton until it becomes an adult.

https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=Ve_vxFFWBgc
 Arthropods
Reproduction in arthropods
 Complete metamorphosis
A larva that is very different from the adult hatches from an
egg. The larva grows and moults its exoskeleton until the old
is just a case surrounding it.
In this state, a pupa, it undergoes a profound transformation
a becomes an adult.
 Arthropods
The main types of arthropods
Arthropods can be divided into:
 Chelicerate arthropods: These have
appendages called chelicerae next to
their mouths. The main types are
arachnids.
 Mandibulate arthropods: These have a
set of mandibles next to their mouths.
The main types are myriapods,
crustaceans and insect.
 Arthropods
The main types of arthropods

Chelicerate arthropods Arachnids

Myriapods
Mandibulate arthropods Crustaceans

Insects
 Arthropods
Arachnids
• Chelicerate arthropods
• Mostly terrestrial
• Mostly carnivorous

Spiders Scorpions Mites

 Arthropods
Arachnids
Their body is divided into a
cephalothorax and an abdomen.

Scorpions have a stinger

on their abdomen for
injecting venom.

Spiders have glands on their

abdomen that secrete silk for
weaving their webs.
 Arthropods
Arachnids
They have a pair of appendages, called pedipalps
(with sense organs or pincers that they use to hold
their prey), and four pairs of legs.
 Arthropods
Arachnids
They have simple eyes

Spiders have poisonous fangs at the ends of their two

chelicerae.
 Arthropods
Arachnids
 Arthropods
Crustaceans
• Mandibulate arthropods
• Marine animals
• Mostly carnivorous

Crabs Prawns Lobsters

 Arthropods
Crustaceans
Their body is divided into cephalothorax and an
abdomen.
 Arthropods
Crustaceans
Their exoskeleton forms a hard shell.
 Arthropods
Crustaceans
They have antennae.
 Arthropods
Crustaceans
They have ten or more legs (some ending in pincers)
 Arthropods
Crustaceans
They have a pair of compound eyes.
 Arthropods
Crustaceans
 Arthropods
Myriapods
• Mandibulate arthropods
• Terrestrial animals
• Carnivorous or herbivores

Centipedes Millipedes
 Arthropods
Myriapods
They have a long body divided into a head and a trunk.
The trunk is made up of many rings.
 Arthropods
Myriapods
They have a pair of antennae.

They have one or two pairs of

legs in each ring of their trunk.

Centipedes have
poisonous fangs instead of
the first two legs.
 Arthropods
Myriapods
They have two pairs of simple eyes.
Arthropods
 Arthropods
Insects
• Mandibulate arthropods
• Mostly terrestrial animals
• They can be carnivorous, herbivores, scavengers or
parasites.

Beetles

Grasshoppers

Flies
Butterflies
Crickets
 Arthropods
Insects
Their body is divided into a head, a thorax and
an abdomen.
 Arthropods
Insects
They have a pair of antennae, three pairs of legs
and, in most cases, two pairs of wings. They are
the only invertebrates capable of flying.
 Arthropods
Insects
They have a pair of compound eyes and a varying
number of simple eyes.
 Arthropods
Insects
 Homework
Page 87

• Make an outline about the arthropods.

Echinoderms
 Echinoderms
They have radial symmetry.

They are exclusively marine animals.

Some live attached to the substrate, while
others move slowly along the substrate.
 Echinoderms
Their body is not segmented and they come in very
different shapes:

 Spherical: Sea urchins

 Star-shaped: starfish and brittle starts.

 Cylindrical: Sea cucumbers

Echinoderms
 Echinoderms
They do not have a defined head.

Beneath a surface layer of skin they have an skeleton

made up of different plates with spines on it.
 Echinoderms
They are oviparous and develop through
metamorphosis.

Starfish can reproduce asexually by fragmentation

(regenerating a new individual from a fragment of
their body).
 Echinoderms
They have an ambulacral system, which is exclusive
to this group.

The ambulacral system is made up of a series of

tubes filled with liquid that have extensions called
ambulacral feet.
 Echinoderms
Some echinoderms use the ambulacral feet to catch
food or to breathe.
But the majority of echinoderms use them to move
about: the feet extend, attach to the floor like suckers
and then pull the whole body to make the animal
move.
https://vimeo.com/37417009

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg3ITcgCFho
Homework
Homework