Phylum Chordata

PHYLUM CHORDATA
Characteristics of the Phylum Chordata
1. Bilaterally symmetrical; segmented body; three germ layers; well-developed coelom.
2. Notochord (a skeletal rod) present at some stage in the life cycle.
3. Single, dorsal, tubular nerve cord; anterior end of cord usually enlarged to form a
brain.
4. The pharynx is perforated by paired slits – the Pharyngeal cleft which tend to the outer
body.
During the course of evolution, the function of the pharyngeal cleft has changed.
i. In the invertebrate chordates (the sea squirts and lancelets), the pharyngeal cleft
forms the filter feeding apparatus.
ii. In fishes, they develop into vascularized gill slits and serve the respiratory
function.
iii. In terrestrial chordates, the pharyngeal slit present in the embryo disappear and
only the first pair persist in the adult as Eustachian tube connecting the middle ear
to the back of the throat.
5. Postanal tail, usually projecting beyond the anus at some stage but may or may not
persist.
6. Segmented muscles are located in an unsegmented trunk.
7. Ventral heart, with dorsal and ventral blood vessels; closed blood system.
8. Complete digestive system.
9. A cartilaginous or bony endoskeleton present in most members (vertebrates).

SUBPHYLUM UROCHORDATA
Urochordata is from the Greek word “oura”, which means tail. Members of this
subphylum are called tailed “tunicates”. There are up to 3000 species. They inhabit all seas
from near shoreline to great depths. Some are free living and most adults are sessile. Tough,
nonliving tunic, or test, surrounds the animal. Hence, the name “tunicate”. (Larvaceans do not
have tunic but transparent house). The tunic consists of cellulose type substance called tunicin.
Tunicate adults are highly specialized chordates. In most species, only the larval form,
which resembles a microscopic tadpole, bears all the chordate hallmarks. The notochord is
restricted to the tail in larvae, hence the group name Urochordata. During adult metamorphosis,
the notochords and tail disappear, while the dorsal nerve cord becomes reduced to a single
ganglion.
Urochordates are divided into 3 classes:
A. Ascidiacea
B. Larvacea
C. Thaliacea
BIOLOGY OF CIONA
Body structure
Ciona is a translucent yellow-green sac-like animal around 100 mm in length. It is
spherical or cylindrical in form. It is found growing in large numbers on rocks, piers, piles,
seaweeds and also bottom of ships. Like many sessile animals, it is highly specialized as a filter
feeder. However, its specializations are not immediately apparent since most of the body is
enclosed in a thick protective outer layer secreted by the epidermis and called the tunic, from
which the common name of the group (tunicates) is derived. The tunic is largely acellular,
consisting of a fibrous matrix of tunicin (a polysaccharide similar to cellulose) with protein and
only a few cells. One end is closely attached to the substrate by a series of projections, the
holdfast, and the other has two openings at the end of short extensions, the buccal and atrial
siphons. Primitive ascideans have a body divisible into three distinct regions: pharyngeal,
abdominal, and post-abdominal. However in the majority of species the post-abdominal region
is unclear, and in Ciona the distinction lies between a large barrel-like pharynx and the
remainder of the body. The greater part of the internal volume of the tunic is occupied by the
pharynx, into which the buccal siphon opens. The pharyngeal wall is perforated by numerous
small slits (stigmata) which are the only obvious phylogenetic link between the adult ascidean
and the chordates. These are formed by increase and subdivision of six pairs of initial
protostigmata and allow water current to pass through the pharynx into a surrounding space, the
atrium, which opens at the atrial siphon and is criss-crossed by strands of tissue. The alimentary
tract is completed by an oesophagus, stomach, intestine and rectum. Like that of many sessile
animals it is U-shaped, opening into the atrium below the atrial sinus.
The body wall below the tunic (sometimes called the mantle) consists of a single-layered
epidermis overlying a thicker fibrous connective tissue dermis, and bands of circular and
longitudinal muscle. The circular muscle is particularly well developed around the siphons
forming sphincters. General contraction of both longitudinal and circular muscle bands at
intervals during feeding, as well as when the animal is disturbed or exposed, forces water out
from the atrium and pharynx as jets, hence the common name sea squirts.
Tunicates do not have a true coelom, but are so obviously related to the coelomates that this loss
must be secondary. Two body cavities are present: the pericardial cavity, which folds to form
and surround the heart and is sometimes interpreted as a vestigial coelom; and the highly unusual
epicardium which arises as a double evagination from the base of the pharynx. This evagination
enlarges and unites to form a single tube which surrounds the viscera in the same way as a
coelom. The epicardium is surrounded by mesenchyme, and the whole structure, including the
alimentary tract and gonads, forms the visceral mass.

Ciona sp.

Phylum Chordata

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PHYLUM CHORDATA

Characteristics of the Phylum Chordata

1. Bilaterally symmetrical; segmented body; three germ layers; well-developed coelom.

2. Notochord (a skeletal rod) present at some stage in the life cycle.

forms the filter feeding apparatus.

to the back of the throat.

6. Segmented muscles are located in an unsegmented trunk.

8. Complete digestive system.

9. A cartilaginous or bony endoskeleton present in most members (vertebrates).

Urochordates are divided into 3 classes:

Ciona is a translucent yellow-green sac-like animal around 100 mm in length. It is

alimentary tract and gonads, forms the visceral mass.

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