List of invertebrates of California
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This list of invertebrates of California lists invertebrate species (animals without a backbone) that are found in the US State of
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
. This list includes animals from the land, from freshwater, and from the ocean. The sequence of phyla is alphabetical. Species that are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the State of California are indicated using an ,
introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...
with an , and invasive species with an .


Acanthocephala Acanthocephala (Greek , ', thorn + , ', head) is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephalans, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to p ...


Acoelomorpha Acoelomorpha is a subphylum of very simple and small soft-bodied animals with planula-like features which live in marine or brackish waters. They usually live between grains of sediment, swimming as plankton, or crawling on other organisms, suc ...


AnnelidaWood & James (1993)James, S W (1994)

Many of these species were described by Hulton Wood and Samuel James.


Class

Polychaeta Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which ar ...


Arthropoda Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin, ...

Subphylum Crustacea


Class

Branchiopoda Branchiopoda is a class of crustaceans. It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Diplostraca (or Cladocera), Notostraca and the Devonian ''Lepidocaris''. They are mostly small, freshwater animals that feed on plankton and detritus. Description ...


Order

Anostraca Anostraca is one of the four orders of crustaceans in the class Branchiopoda; its members are referred to as fairy shrimp. They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, and they have even been found in deserts, ice-covered m ...


=Family Branchinectidae, ''fairy shrimp''

=


Order

Notostraca The order Notostraca, containing the single family Triopsidae, is a group of crustaceans known as tadpole shrimp or shield shrimp. The two genera, ''Triops'' and '' Lepidurus'', are considered living fossils, with similar forms having existed sinc ...
''tadpole shrimp''


Order

Anomopoda Anomopoda is an order of the superorder Diplostraca. These crustaceans, a type of water flea, are members of the class Branchiopoda. The Anomopoda typically have five pairs of thoracic limbs, but sometimes have six pairs. The head of the Anomopo ...
''water fleas''


Class

Hexanauplia The Hexanauplia is a clade proposed by Oakley et al. (2013) that constitutes a class of crustaceans, comprising the Copepoda and Thecostraca. A number of recent phylogenomic studies have not found support for this clade. Classification This t ...


Class

Malacostraca Malacostraca (from New Latin; ) is the largest of the six classes of crustaceans, containing about 40,000 living species, divided among 16 orders. Its members, the malacostracans, display a great diversity of body forms and include crabs, l ...


Order Decapoda, ''decapods''


Order Isopoda, ''isopods''


Suborder

Oniscidea A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an Isopoda, isopod crustacean from the Polyphyly, polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being ...
, ''woodlice''


Order Amphipoda, ''amphiopods''


Class

Insecta Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs o ...

California has over 30,000 insects in the entire state.


Order Coleoptera


= Family

Carabidae Ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles, the Carabidae, with more than 40,000 species worldwide, around 2,000 of which are found in North America and 2,700 in Europe. As of 2015, it is one of the 10 most species-rich animal fami ...
, ''ground beetles''

=


= Family

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns, are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by extremely long antennae, which are often as long as or longer than ...
, ''longhorn beetles''

=


= Family

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...
, ''scarabs''

=


Order

Collembola Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...
, ''springtails''


Order

Dermaptera Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forcep-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded ...
, ''earwigs''


Order

Dictyoptera Dictyoptera (from Greek δίκτυον ''diktyon'' "net" and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing") is an insect superorder that includes two extant orders of polyneopterous insects: the order Blattodea (termites and cockroaches together) and the o ...


Order Diptera, ''flies and mosquitoes''


Order Embiidina


Order Ephemeroptera


Order Grylloblattidae


Order Hemiptera


Order Hymenoptera, ''sawflies, bees, wasps, and ants''


Order

Isoptera Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattod ...
, ''termites''


Order Lepidoptera, ''butterfiles and moths''


= Family Hesperiidae, ''skippers''

=


= Family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

=


= Family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterf ...
, ''gossamer-winged butterflies''

=


= Family

Riodinidae Riodinidae is the family of metalmark butterflies. The common name "metalmarks" refers to the small, metallic-looking spots commonly found on their wings. The 1532 species are placed in 146 genera. Although mostly Neotropical in distribution, t ...
, ''metalmarks''

=


= Family

Sphingidae The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but ...
, ''hawk moths, sphinx moths''

=


= Family

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larg ...
, ''hawk moths, sphinx moths''

=


Order

Mallophaga The Mallophaga are a possibly paraphyletic section of lice Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been re ...
, ''bird lice, biting lice''


Order

Mecoptera Mecoptera (from the Greek: ''mecos'' = "long", ''ptera'' = "wings") is an order of insects in the superorder Endopterygota with about six hundred species in nine families worldwide. Mecopterans are sometimes called scorpionflies after their lar ...
, ''scorpionflies''


Order Neuroptera


Order

Odonata Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of their total group, Odonatoptera, first appeared in Late Carboniferous. The two com ...
, ''dragonflies and damselflies''


= Suborder

Anisoptera A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

=


Family Libellulidae


= Suborder Zygoptera

=


Subfamily
Coenagrionoidea Coenagrionoidea is a superfamily of closed wing damselflies of the order Odonata Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of t ...


Order Orthoptera, ''grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets''


Order

Phasmida The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida, Phasmatoptera or Spectra) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick-bugs, walking sticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as D ...


Order

Phthiraptera Louse ( : lice) is the common name for any member of the clade Phthiraptera, which contains nearly 5,000 species of wingless parasitic insects. Phthiraptera has variously been recognized as an order, infraorder, or a parvorder, as a result of ...
, ''lice''


Order Plecoptera, ''stoneflies''


Order

Protura The Protura, or proturans, and sometimes nicknamed coneheads, are very small (0.6-1.5mm long), soil-dwelling animals, so inconspicuous they were not noticed until the 20th century. The Protura constitute an order of hexapods that were previously ...


Order

Psocoptera Psocoptera are a paraphyletic group of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies. The name Psocoptera has been replaced with Psocodea in recent literature, with the inclusion of the former order Phthiraptera into Psoco ...
''booklice, bark lice''


Order Siphonaptera ''fleas''


Order Siphunculata


Order

Strepsiptera The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with eleven extant families that include about 600 described species. They are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. Females of most species never ...


Order

Trichoptera The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the b ...
''caddisflies''


Order

Thysanoptera Thrips (order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...
''thrips''


Class Arachnida


Superorder

Acari Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...
, ''ticks and mites''


Order

Amblypygi Amblypygi is an ancient order of arachnid chelicerate arthropods also known as African cave-dwelling spiders, whip spiders and tailless whip scorpions (not to be confused with whip scorpions or vinegaroons that belong to the related order Thelyph ...
, ''tailless whipscorpions''


Order

Araneae Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species dive ...
, ''spiders''


Order

Opiliones The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an order of arachnids colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs. , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the total number of ext ...
, ''harvestmen''


Order

Palpigradi Palpigrades, commonly known as microwhip scorpions, are arachnids belonging to the order Palpigradi. Description Palpigrades belong to the arachnid class. They are the sister group to Solifugae, no more than in length, and averaging . They have ...
, ''micro whipscorpions''


Order

Pseudoscorpiones Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are small, scorpion-like arachnids belonging to the order Pseudoscorpiones, also known as Pseudoscorpionida or Chelonethida. Pseudoscorpions are generally beneficial to humans sin ...
, ''pseudoscorpions''


Order

Ricinulei Ricinulei is a small order of arachnids. Like most arachnids, they are predatory, eating small arthropods. They occur today in west-central Africa (''Ricinoides'') and the Neotropics (''Cryptocellus'' and ''Pseudocellus'') as far north as Texas. ...
, ''hooded tickspiders''


Order

Schizomida Schizomida (common name shorttailed whipscorpion) is an order of arachnids, generally less than in length. The order is not yet widely studied. About 300 species of schizomids have been described worldwide, most belonging to the Hubbardiidae fa ...
, ''shorttailed whipscorpions''


Order Scorpiones, ''scorpions''


Order

Solifugae Solifugae is an order of animals in the class Arachnida known variously as camel spiders, wind scorpions, sun spiders, or solifuges. The order includes more than 1,000 described species in about 147 genera. Despite the common names, they are ...
, ''camel spiders''


Order

Uropygi Thelyphonida is an arachnid order comprising invertebrates commonly known as whip scorpions or vinegaroons (also spelled vinegarroons and vinegarones). They are often called uropygids in the scientific community based on an alternative name for ...
, ''whipscorpions''


Brachiopoda


Order

Terebratulida Terebratulids are one of only three living orders of articulate brachiopods, the others being the Rhynchonellida and the Thecideida. Craniida and Lingulida include living brachiopods, but are inarticulates. The name, Terebratula, may be derived ...


Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...


Class

Gymnolaemata Gymnolaemata are a class of Bryozoans. Gymnolaemata are sessile, mostly marine organisms and grow on the surfaces of rocks, kelp, and in some cases on animals, like fish. Zooids are cylindrical or flattened. The lophophore is protruded by action ...


Chaetognatha The Chaetognatha or chaetognaths (meaning ''bristle-jaws'') are a phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton worldwide. Commonly known as arrow worms, about 20% of the known Chaetognatha species are benthic, and ca ...


Chordata

Subphylum UrochordataWatanabe, James M.


Class

Ascidiacea Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" ...


Order Enterogona


Order

Stolidobranchia Stolidobranchia is an order of tunicates in the class Ascidiacea.Lambert, G.; Gittenberger, A.; Sanamyan, K. (2015)Stolidobranchia.In: Shenkar, N.; Gittenberger, A.; Lambert, G.; Rius, M.; Moreira Da Rocha, R.; Swalla, B.J.; Turon, X. (2015) Asci ...


Order

Phlebobranchia Phlebobranchia is a suborder of tunicate, sea squirts in the class Ascidiacea. Characteristics The group includes both colonial and solitary animals. They are distinguished from other sea squirts by the presence of longitudinal vessels in the ...


Cnidaria Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that ...


Class Scyphozoa, true jellyfish


Class

Hydrozoa Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; ) are a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial species can be large, and in some cases the specialize ...


Class Anthozoa, sea anemones and corals


Order

Actiniaria Sea anemones are a group of predatory marine invertebrates of the order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classified in the phylum Cnidaria ...


Order Pennatulacea


Ctenophora Ctenophora (; ctenophore ; ) comprise a phylum of marine invertebrates, commonly known as comb jellies, that inhabit sea waters worldwide. They are notable for the groups of cilia they use for swimming (commonly referred to as "combs"), and ...


Class

Tentaculata Tentaculata is a class of comb jellies. The common feature of this class is a pair of long, feathery, contractile tentacles, which can be retracted into specialised ciliated sheaths. In some species, the primary tentacles are reduced and they ...


Class Nuda


Cycliophora ''Symbion'' is a genus of commensal aquatic animals, less than 0.5 mm wide, found living attached to the mouthparts of cold-water lobsters. They have sac-like bodies, and three distinctly different forms in different parts of their two-sta ...


Echinodermata An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...


Class

Asteroidea Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish a ...
, ''sea stars''


Class

Ophiuroidea Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomot ...
, ''brittle stars''


Class

Echinoidea Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells ( tests) ...
, ''sea urchins and sand dollars''


Echiura The Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of marine animals. Once treated as a separate phylum, they are now considered to belong to Annelida. Annelids typically have their bodies divided into segments, but echiurans have secondarily los ...


Entoprocta Entoprocta (), or Kamptozoa , is a phylum of mostly sessile aquatic animals, ranging from long. Mature individuals are goblet-shaped, on relatively long stalks. They have a "crown" of solid tentacles whose cilia generate water currents that ...


Gastrotricha The gastrotrichs (phylum Gastrotricha), commonly referred to as hairybellies or hairybacks, are a group of microscopic (0.06-3.0 mm), worm-like, acoelomate animals, and are widely distributed and abundant in freshwater and marine environmen ...


Order

Macrodasyida Macrodasyida is an order of gastrotrich The gastrotrichs (phylum Gastrotricha), commonly referred to as hairybellies or hairybacks, are a group of microscopic (0.06-3.0 mm), worm-like, acoelomate animals, and are widely distributed and ...


Gnathostomulida Gnathostomulids, or jaw worms, are a small phylum of nearly microscopic marine animals. They inhabit sand and mud beneath shallow coastal waters and can survive in relatively anoxic environments. They were first recognised and described in 1956. ...


Hemichordata


Kinorhyncha Kinorhyncha ( grc, κινέω, kīnéō, I move, ' "snout") is a phylum of small marine invertebrates that are widespread in mud or sand at all depths as part of the meiobenthos. They are also called mud dragons. Modern species are or less, ...


Loricifera Loricifera (from Latin, '' lorica'', corselet (armour) + ''ferre'', to bear) is a phylum of very small to microscopic marine cycloneuralian sediment-dwelling animals that had been determined to be 37 described species, in 9 genera, bu ...


Order Nanaloricida


Micrognathozoa ''Limnognathia maerski'' is a microscopic freshwater animal, discovered living in warm springs on Disko Island, Greenland, in 1994. Since then, it was also found in Crozet Islands of Antarctica.). With an average length of 100 micrometers ...


Mollusca


Class

Bivalvia Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, biva ...
, ''bivalves''


Order Mytilida


Order

Ostreida The order Ostreida includes the true oysters. One superfamily (Ostreoidea) and two extant families are recognised within it. The two families are Ostreidae, the true oysters, and Gryphaeidae The Gryphaeidae, common name the foam oysters o ...


Order

Venerida Venerida (formerly Veneroida) is an order of mostly saltwater but also some freshwater bivalve molluscs. This order includes many familiar groups such as many clams that are valued for food and a number of freshwater bivalves. Since the 2000s, t ...


Order

Myida Myida (formerly Myoida) is an order of saltwater and freshwater clams, marine and freshwater bivalve molluscs in the subclass Heterodonta. The order includes such bivalves as soft-shell clams, geoducks and shipworms. Description They are burrowi ...


Class Gastropoda, ''gastropods''


Order

Archaeogastropoda Archaeogastropoda (also known as Aspidobranchia) was a taxonomic order of sea snails used in older classifications of gastropods, i.e. snails and slugs. Archeogastropoda are marine prosobranch gastropod mollusks, mainly herbivores, typically hav ...


Order Pulmonata


Order Stylommatophora


Order Nudibranchia


Order Neotaenioglossa


Order Neogastropoda


Order Trochida


Order

Littorinimorpha Littorinimorpha is a large order of snails, gastropods, consisting primarily of sea snails (marine species), but also including some freshwater snails ( aquatic species) and land snails ( terrestrial species).Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Frý ...


Superfamily

Aplysioidea Aplysioidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusc, mollusks within the clade Anaspidea.Gofas, S. (2010). Akeroidea. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine S ...


Order

Cephalaspidea The order Cephalaspidea, also known as the headshield slugs and bubble snails, is a major taxon of sea slugs and bubble snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the larger clade Euopisthobranchia.Jörger K. M., Stöger I., Kano Y., Fukuda H., ...
, ''shieldheaded slugs''


Superfamily Cerithioidea


Class

Cephalopoda A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent hea ...
, ''cephalopods''


Subclass

Coleoidea Subclass Coleoidea, or Dibranchiata, is the grouping of cephalopods containing all the various taxa popularly thought of as "soft-bodied" or "shell-less" (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish). Unlike its extant sister group, Nautiloidea, whos ...


= Order Octopoda

=


Order

Myopsida Myopsida is one of the four orders of squid. It consists of two families: the monotypic '' Australiteuthis'' and the diverse and commercially important Loliginidae (~50 species). Some taxonomists classify this taxon as a suborder of the order ...


Class Polyplacophora


Mesozoa The Mesozoa are minuscule, worm-like parasites of marine invertebrates. Generally, these tiny, elusive creatures consist of a somatoderm (outer layer) of ciliated cells surrounding one or more reproductive cells. A recent study recovered Mesoz ...


Nematoda The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broa ...


Nematomorpha Nematomorpha (sometimes called Gordiacea, and commonly known as horsehair worms, hairsnakes, or Gordian worms) are a phylum of parasitoid animals superficially similar to nematode worms in morphology, hence the name. Most species range in size f ...


Nemertea Nemertea is a phylum of animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms, consisting of 1300 known species. Most ribbon worms are very slim, usually only a few millimeters wide, although a few have relatively short but wide bodies. Many h ...


Class

Anopla Anopla (for changes in taxonomy, see reference from 2019) has long been used as name for a class of marine worms of the phylum Nemertea, characterized by the absence of stylets on the proboscis, the mouth being below or behind the brain, and by ...


Class

Enopla Enopla is one of the classes of the worm phylum Nemertea, characterized by the presence of a peculiar armature of spines or plates in the proboscis. Evolution and systematics The record of nemerteans is extremely sparse, as would be expected ...


Onychophora Onychophora (from grc, ονυχής, , "claws"; and , , "to carry"), commonly known as velvet worms (due to their velvety texture and somewhat wormlike appearance) or more ambiguously as peripatus (after the first described genus, '' Peripatus ...


Pentastoma


Phoronida


Class

Cestoda Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of ...


Placozoa The Placozoa are a basal form of marine free-living (non-parasitic) multicellular organism. They are the simplest in structure of all animals. Three genera have been found: the classical ''Trichoplax adhaerens'', '' Hoilungia hongkongensis'', a ...


Platyhelminthes The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegme ...


Class

Cestoda Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of ...


Class

Turbellaria The Turbellaria are one of the traditional sub-divisions of the phylum Platyhelminthes (flatworms), and include all the sub-groups that are not exclusively parasitic. There are about 4,500 species, which range from to large freshwater forms mor ...


Pogonophora


Porifera


Class

Demospongiae Demosponges (Demospongiae) are the most diverse class in the phylum Porifera. They include 76.2% of all species of sponges with nearly 8,800 species worldwide (World Porifera Database). They are sponges with a soft body that covers a hard, ...


Subclass Tetractinomorpha


Order

Astrophorida Astrophorina is a Order (biology), suborder of sea sponges in the class Demospongiae. Astrophorina was formerly named Astrophorida and classified as an order, but it is now recognised as a suborder of TetractinellidaMorrow & Cárdenas' (2015) rev ...


Order

Hadromerida Heteroscleromorpha is a subclass of demosponges within the phylum Porifera Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms th ...


Order Spirophorida


Subclass Ceractinomorpha, ''demosponges''


Order

Poecilosclerida Poecilosclerida is an order of the demosponge class. It is the most speciose demosponge order with over 2200 species (World Porifera Database). It contains about 25 recognised families. They are characterised by having chelae microscleres, that ...


Suborder Myxillina


Priapulida Priapulida (priapulid worms, from Gr. πριάπος, ''priāpos'' 'Priapus' + Lat. ''-ul-'', diminutive), sometimes referred to as penis worms, is a phylum of unsegmented marine worms. The name of the phylum relates to the Greek god of fertility ...


Rotifera The rotifers (, from the Latin , "wheel", and , "bearing"), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John H ...


Sipuncula The Sipuncula or Sipunculida (common names sipunculid worms or peanut worms) is a class containing about 162 species of unsegmented marine annelid worms. The name ''Sipuncula'' is from the genus name ''Sipunculus'', and comes from the Latin ' ...


Tardigrada Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbä ...


Class

Heterotardigrada The class Heterotardigrada includes tardigrades (water bears) that have cephalic appendages and legs with four separate but similar digits or claws on each. 444 species have been described. Anatomy The anatomy of the reproductive system is an ...


Xenacoelomorpha Xenacoelomorpha is a small phylum of bilaterian invertebrate animals, consisting of two sister groups: xenoturbellids and acoelomorphs. This new phylum was named in February 2011 and suggested based on morphological synapomorphies (physical ...


Notes


References

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Invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...