The Lophophorata (also called Tentaculata; not to be confused with
Tentaculata Eschscholtz 1825, a class within the
Ctenophora) are a
Lophotrochozoan clade consisting of the
Brachiozoa and the
Bryozoa
Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...
. They have a
lophophore. Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest that lophophorates are
protostomes, but on morphological grounds they have been assessed as
deuterostomes. Fossil finds of the "
tommotiid" ''
Wufengella'' suggest that they evolved from worm-like animals that resembled
annelids.
References
{{Protostome-stub