Lophophorates
Even though the energy that lophophorates need is fairly low compared with most other animals, they still need it. Moving cilia and the occasional moving of the actual organism, besides regular life processes, are the organisms main consumers of energy. Lophophorates are heterotrophic and feed mainly on plankton and any tissue that was scraped off of living organisms. Their feeding behavior is classified as suspension feeding in which they use their tentacles to bring in food particles that they can then digest (Halanych 1993). After bringing in the food, the lophophorate digests it in the U-shaped gut that crushes the particles into usable substances.
Image Retrieved from <http://www.biltek.tubitak.gov.tr/canlilar/animalia/omurgasiz/2bilateria/1protostomia/nemertea.htm>
From Turkish Government Research Site
Nemertea
Nemertea are usually much more active than Lophophorates in their day-to-day activities. These heterotrophs prey on other marine invertebrates by using their probiscus to ensnare them and then inject them with deadly toxin. They then digest them and the waste goes through their complete digestive system and out the anus. However, food is not always ingested in this manner. Nemerteans are carnivores as well as scavengers and will often not use their probiscus but rather swallow the food directly. One kind of nemertea is different than the rest. The Malacobdella grossa feeds on algae, baceria, protozoans, diatoms, and dinoflagellates which it filters from the sea water. The water is pumped into the organism's foregut and then stray particles are filtered out by the cilia which, unlike most feeding mechanisms in the animal kingdom, uses no mucus to trap food. The varied diet of this species explains the different enzymic complement when compared to the other Nemertean species (Gibson 1982).
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Even though the energy that lophophorates need is fairly low compared with most other animals, they still need it. Moving cilia and the occasional moving of the actual organism, besides regular life processes, are the organisms main consumers of energy. Lophophorates are heterotrophic and feed mainly on plankton and any tissue that was scraped off of living organisms. Their feeding behavior is classified as suspension feeding in which they use their tentacles to bring in food particles that they can then digest (Halanych 1993). After bringing in the food, the lophophorate digests it in the U-shaped gut that crushes the particles into usable substances.
Image Retrieved from <http://www.biltek.tubitak.gov.tr/canlilar/animalia/omurgasiz/2bilateria/1protostomia/nemertea.htm>
From Turkish Government Research Site
Nemertea
Nemertea are usually much more active than Lophophorates in their day-to-day activities. These heterotrophs prey on other marine invertebrates by using their probiscus to ensnare them and then inject them with deadly toxin. They then digest them and the waste goes through their complete digestive system and out the anus. However, food is not always ingested in this manner. Nemerteans are carnivores as well as scavengers and will often not use their probiscus but rather swallow the food directly. One kind of nemertea is different than the rest. The Malacobdella grossa feeds on algae, baceria, protozoans, diatoms, and dinoflagellates which it filters from the sea water. The water is pumped into the organism's foregut and then stray particles are filtered out by the cilia which, unlike most feeding mechanisms in the animal kingdom, uses no mucus to trap food. The varied diet of this species explains the different enzymic complement when compared to the other Nemertean species (Gibson 1982).
Home
Evolution and Phylogenic Relationships
Features Shared by Taxonomic Group with Related Groups
Features Unique to the Taxonomic Group
World Distribution
Habitat Use
Energy/Mode of Nutrition
Ecological Roles
Impacts on Human Society
References Pages