| The entoprocta are a phylum in the animal kingdom which consists of about 150 small aquatic, mostly marine, invertebrates which live in shallow waters on the coasts. They are also known as Goblet Worms.
An entoproct can either exist alone or in a group called a zooid, which is formed by budding. Zooids are only 0.016-0,2 inches tall and have a stalk which attaches itself to animals that produce water currents like sponges or seaweed. The body of the entoproct itself is distinguished by its globular head which houses the nervous, excretory, and reproductive systems, including the signature U-shaped gut. They have no circulatory system or organs that aid in the exchange of gasses. The head, or calyx, has a circle of cilia around the mouth which help draw in the small particles in the water which it feeds on and also doubles as an anus. The species that live in zooids discard and re-grow their calyxes to form new entoprocts, but in the species that live alone have buds which don't detach until they reach maturity. Other characteristics of entoprocta include having a lophophore, a pseudolocoelomic body cavity, a body with more than two cell layers, and being bilaterally symmetrical.
Entoprocts were first observed in 1774 and were classified with the bryozonas or moss animals since the two phylums are superficially similar. The entoprocta were not classified into their own phylum in 1888 and alternate names which were later proposed were Calyssozoa and Kamptozoa. Since they only have soft bodies, there are no fossils of them and they're generally considered to have evolved little since ancient times.
Taxonomy:
Sources:
http://www.eb.com
http://www.geocities.com/adam_benkato/phyla/ento.htm
http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/entoprocta.html
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