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Phoronid

Other Invertebrates

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Phoronids, also called horseshoe worms, are soft-bodied marine invertebrates that make up their own phylum, Phoronida, distinct from segmented worms despite a superficially similar shape. Each animal builds and lives inside an upright tube of chitin, extending a crown of ciliated tentacles called a lophophore from the opening to filter plankton from the surrounding water. They live in soft sediment and on hard surfaces in oceans worldwide, from shallow intertidal flats to several hundred meters deep.

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