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Phoronids (Phoronida) are a relatively small animal phylum: twelve species are
known, in two genera, Phoronis
and Phoronopsis. Phoronids
are worm-shaped, but with a gut that loops and exits the body near the mouth, instead of
running the length of the animal, as in annelids (and many vertebrates). Phoronids are found in marine sediments, ranging from the intertidal zone to 400 meters
depth, but are commonest at depths of less than 70 meters. The adults secrete chitinous
tubes in which to live. They feed using a lophophore, a ciliated structure that
surrounds the mouth.
Together with the Ectoprocta and Brachiopoda, the phoronids belong to the lophophorates,
sometimes treated as a single phylum. There are no known phoronid fossils.
References
http://www.itis.usda.gov
TSN (phylum): 155456
TSN (family): 155457
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