Arthropoda (Arthros: Joint, Podos: leg): Arthropoda forms the largest phylum of kingdom Animalia. Characteristics of Arthropoda:
a. Habitat: Arthropods are omnipresent.
b. Forms: Solitary or colonial, most of them are free-living. Barnacles are sedentary. Few are parasitic and sanguivorous, (e.g. Female mosquito, bed bug.)
c. Body symmetry: Body is bilaterally symmetrical.
d. Germ layers: They are triploblastic.
e. Body cavity: Arthropods are eucoelomates.
f. Body plan: They show tube within tube body plan.
g. Level of body organization: They show organ system level of organization.
h. Special features: The members of this phylum have jointed appendages. Hence, they are known as arthropods. Some insects like honey bee, ants, termites, etc. exhibit polymorphism.
i. Exoskeleton: Body is covered by a tough, non – living chitinous exoskeleton. As the exoskeleton does not allow body growth, arthropods shed off their exoskeleton periodically during growth. This process is called moulting or ecdysis.
j. Body division: Body is divided into head, thorax and abdomen.
k. Segmentation: Body shows metameric segmentation.
l. Digestion: Digestive system is complete and divided into foregut, midgut and hindgut.
m. Circulation: Circulatory system is of open type wherein, blood flows through body cavity called haemocoel.
n. Respiration: Respiration occurs through respiratory organs like gills, trachea, book lungs or book
gills.
o. Excretion: Excretion takes place by green glands, Malpighian tubules or coxal glands.
p. Nervous system: Nervous system consists of nerve ring and double, ventral ganglionated nerve cord.
q. Sense organs:Arthropods have well developed sense organs in the form of antennae, simple or compound eye and various receptors.
r. Sexual reproduction: Sexes are generally separate in arthropods with distinct sexual dimorphism.
s. Significance:
Beneficial arthropods: Some arthropods are of economic importance. For example, Honey bees (Apis) are important for their honey and wax, silk worms for the production of silk. Lobsters, prawns, crabs are edible. Harmful arthropods: Some arthropods are harmful and act as vectors to spread various diseases, e.g., Mosquitoes. Locusta (locust) is a gregarious pest. Limulus (King crab) is a living fossil.
Other examples: Cockroach (Periplaneta), butterfly, scorpion (Hottentotta) and millipede (Archispirostreptus) prawn.
Mollusca (Mollis: Soft) is the second largest phylum.
Unique features of phylum Mollusca:
- Habitat: They are aquatic or seen in marshy places. Few of them are terrestrial.
- Forms: Molluscs are either free-living or sedentary.
- Body plan: These are soft bodied and show tube within a tube type of body plan.
- Body symmetry: Most of the Molluscs show bilateral symmetry but few are asymmetrical due to torsion (twisting).
- Body division: Body consists of head, foot and visceral mass. Visceral mass is enclosed in thick, muscular fold of body wall called mantle. Mantle secretes a hard-calcareous shell, that may be external or internal or absent. Muscular foot is present ventrally.
- Digestive system: Digestive system is well-developed and complete with anterior mouth and posterior anus. Buccal cavity has a rasping organ called radula (helps in feeding), which is provided with transverse rows of teeth.
- Respiration: In aquatic forms, numerous feather-like gills called ctenidia, help in aquatic respiration. Terrestrial forms may show the presence of lungs.
- Circulatory system: Circulatory system is of open type (except in Sepia, where it is of the closed type). Blood contains a copper containing blue coloured respiratory pigment called haemocyanin.
- Excretion: Excretion occurs by kidney like structures, also called ‘Organ of Bojanus’.
- Nervous system and sense organs; Nervous system has three rjahs of Mf hxese,
interconnected by commissures and connectives. - Sense organs: Sense organs such as eyes for vision, tentacles for tactile sensation and osphradia for testing purity of water is present.
- Sexual reproduction: Sexes are usually separate. Animals of this phylum are mostly oviparous and the development is direct or indirect.
- e.g. Pila, Spisula (Bivalve), Octopus (devil fish), Sepia (cuttle fish), Chaetopleura (Chiton), Pinctada (Pearl oyster), Loligo (Squid), Aplysia (Sea hare), Dentalium (Tusk shell).