List of animal phyla

List of animal phyla is a list of the major groups of animals usually classified as a phylum. Modern sources have been used: the list is different from that of Linnaeus or Cuvier. A list of this type may be arranged alphabetically; equally it might be arranged according to evolutionary relationships. No list will be completely satisfactory. Authorities differ in what they consider a phylum, and in the actual name of the phylum. Despite this, there is agreement on most phyla. Most modern surveys include groups above the phylum, based on evidence of common descent.
Differences of opinion about evolutionary relationships have been reduced by the use of molecular evolution and molecular clock research. These make use of protein amino acid sequences, and whole genome DNA sequence analysis. These modern techniques have led to changes and renaming of many higher categories. Classification based on traditional comparative anatomy had errors which needed to be corrected. For example, the old phylum Coelenterata, which had stood for almost two hundred years, was split down into two separate phyla, the Cnidaria and the Ctenophora.
The following list is based on evolutionary relationships:
Phyla
Major groups in large text.
Ecdysozoa
Nematoda: the round worms. For purists, the name Nemata has priority. Despite their rather limited body form, this is a major phylum, with huge numbers in every conceivable habitat. "More than 15,000 species have been described, of an estimated one million living species".p90 Nematodes include both free-living and parasitic species of plants and animals, including man. Of their large number of species most are likely to be parasites. Nematodes are one of the few life-forms in which each species has a defined number of cells.
Nematomorpha: small group of nematode-like parasites. They spend their larval stage in the body cavity of arthropods. The adult stage is free, but non-feeding, though it may live for several months. About 250+ species.p85
Priapulida or Priapula: small phylum of 18 species, with large front section which can be drawn back into the body cavity and extruded for feeding. The larger species are carnivores, seizing prey. The Burgess Shale fauna from the Cambrian shows that the living species are but a remnant of a once much larger group.p358
Kinorhyncha: another small phylum with an introvert that carries a mouth at the end when extended.p97 Two groups, described as classes in Sorensen. 270 species have been described and many more are expected.
Loricifera: a new phylum, discovered in the 1970s. They are microscopic, 100-485mm; ~100 species. They have an exoskeleton called a lorica, and an introvert which can be withdrawn into the trunk. They live at the bottom of the water column attached to gravel. Three species live completely without oxygen. Now 37 described species, in nine genera.
Onychophora: the velvet worms. Only 110 species from two families, they are relatives of the Arthropods.
Arthropoda: by far the largest phylum. A recent estimate of the number of arthropods on Earth today is 3.7 million species. It includes animals with jointed limbs and an exoskeleton made of chitin. There are many opinions about its classification. An arrangement found in several texts is: Superphylum Arthropoda: Phyla Chelicerata, Crustacea, Uniramia (Insects + Myriapoda).p61 If Arthropoda is ranked as a phylum, its subdivisions rank as Subphyla:
Trilobitomorpha: the trilobites, Cambrian to Permian.
Chelicerata. Classes Arachnida: the spiders, mites, scorpions. Xiphosura: horseshoe crab Limulus. Pycnogonida: sea spiders. Eurypterida: sea scorpions (extinct). 63,000 species described.p179
Myriapoda. Classes: Chilopoda: centipedes. Diplopoda: millipedes. Symphyla and Pauropoda: minor groups. ~3000 species.p187
Hexapoda. Two classes of hugely different size. Insecta: the insects;p196 overwhelmingly the most common terrestrial animals, with an estimated 1.5 to 3 million species in about 30 orders. Apterygota are the wingless insects. Development of insects involves many kinds of larvae, both aquatic and terrestrial and, almost always, metamorphosis. The other class, the Entognatha consists of three small groups.
Crustacea. Classes: Branchiopoda: brine shrimps. Cephalocarida: horseshoe shrimps. Maxillopoda: barnacles, fish lice. Ostracoda: seed shrimps. Malacostraca: lobsters, crabs, shrimp. Remipedia: a group of blind underground crustacea, globally distributed but confined to coastal aquifers. First larva is usually a nauplius, which may be followed by other larval stages.
Tardigrada: 'Water bears'. 700 species of microscopic animals from damp or aquatic habitats. Structure is constant: head, four segments, each with two legs. Terrestrial species are adapted to survive extreme conditions.
Lophotrochozoa
Sipuncula: 150 species, no certain fossil record. Small, tube-like marine animals with long tentacle-like front part which can be pulled in or out. The mouth is surrounded by a ring of cilia. Has pelagic larvae.
Mollusca: a great phylum by number of species and by variety of body forms; largely aquatic. Hugely important fossil record from the Lower Cambrian. A major food source for mankind, second only to fish. United by their mantle, the muscular 'foot', the radula (teeth band), and (ancestrally) by the shell. Number of living species estimated as 50,000 to 150,000. Classes: lesser classes are the Aplacophora, Monoplacophora, and Polyplacophora. Major classes are the Gastropods, Cephalopods, Bivalves and Scaphopods. A familiarity with bivalve evolution is valuable for identifying strata, so common are their fossils. Larvae are trochophores; or veligers (many gastropods & bivalves); glochidium (some freshwater bivalves).
Annelida: important phylum of both aquatic and terrestrial segmented worms. At least 15,000 living species. Fossil record weak, evolutionary history not well known. Classes: Polychaeta (marine worms), Oligochaeta (earthworms), Hirudinea (leeches). Larvae are trochophores or nectochaeta.
Bryozoa, also known as the Ectoprocta: An aquatic phylum with a huge fossil record (one of the most common in the Palaeozoic). Still fairly common, though little known to the public. There are now 5000 species, most of which build calcareous skeletons. They are almost all colonial, and all their zooids are clones.
Phoronida: A very small phylum, with 12 species. Live on the sea floor (benthic), build chitinous tubes covered with mud or sand or bore into calcareous rock. Usually have horeshoe-shaped lophophores with ciliated tentacles.
Nemertea or Nemertini: flat, unsegmented ribbon worms, mostly aquatic. They have also been called Rhynchocoela or proboscis worms. About 1400 species. There have been reports of extremely long ribbon worms, unconfirmed. Larvae are pilidiums.
Platyhelminthes: the flatworms. Classes: Turbellaria: free-living and aquatic (4,500 species); Trematoda: parasitic flukes of molluscs and vertebrates (~1500 species); Cestoda: tapeworms, parasitic in the digestive tract of vertebrates (3400 species); Monogenea: ectoparasites on the gills and skin of fish (1100 species). Muller's larva is characteristic of the free-living species, but in the parasitic groups development may be direct.
Rotifera: the rotifers. The rotifers (2200 species) are everywhere in transient pools and in sea and fresh water. The ring of cilia circling the mouth and the protective lorica are distinctive. The phylum now includes the Acanthocephala, parasitic thorn-headed worms.
Brachiopoda: the lamp-shells, with a huge fossil record going back to the Cambrian. 12,000 species, of which 350 are still living (or 100 according to Clarkson).p158 They look rather like bivalves, and they do have an upper and lower part to the shell. However, their internal organisation is quite different.p395 They were the dominant inshore fauna (infauna) of the Palaeozoic, but were much reduced by the two main extinction events, the P/Tr and K/T. Bivalve molluscs took over their inshore habitats in the Mesozoic, and since then the brachiopods have been confined to deeper water, except for a handful of species.
Entoprocta: A small phylum (150 species) of sessile benthic marine animals.
Gastrotricha: another phylum of small aquatic animals, with about 700 species. They are bilateral with a complete gut. They are covered with cilia, and have two terminal glands. One gland secretes cement, the other dissolves it. They have a short life span of a few days.
Deuterostomia
Xenacoelomorpha: A group of marine benthic worms consisting of 3 main lineages defined by a blind gut, a net-like nervous system, and lack of nephridia. The position of this group on the tree of life is currently debated as either the sister group to all other Bilateria or as sister to all other Deuterostomia
Xenoturbellida: Benthic marine worms, often found in the deeps sea, sizes between 2-20cm.
Acoela: very small marine worms (usually under 2 millimeters in length) found in marine and brackish waters usually living in the benthos.
Nemertodermatida: small marine worms. ~11 described species. Closely related to Acoela, but differ in that unlike Acoela, they have a permanent intestinal cavity
Echinodermata: One of the most important marine phyla, with radial symmetry. 17,000 living species, which all live in the ocean, mostly on the sea bed. This is the largest phylum which is entirely marine. The main classes are quite well-known. The Crinoids are 'sea lilies', a remnant of a once great clade; the Asterozoa are the starfish, major predators of shell-fish, and the brittle stars. The Echinozoa are the sea urchins, sand dollars and the sea cucumbers. There are also some extinct groups. The echinoderm fossil record is extensive. Larvae are varied and planktonic: pluteus (echinoids); dipleurula, then bipinneria; then brachiolaria (starfish); ophiopluteus (brittle stars); doliolaris (sea cucumbers).
Hemichordata: The Chordates' closest relatives, three groups which are brought together in most modern taxonomies.
Enteropneusta: the acorn worms. A small, well-defined group with 70 marine species. Relatives of the chordates.
+Graptolites: fossil colonial animals.
Pterobranchia: a small sub-phylum of two or three marine groups which usually build tubes, and form small colonies on sea floor. They have a long fossil record. Zooids carry prominent ciliated tentacles.
Chordata: the phylum which contains the vertebrates. As with the Arthropoda, some taxonomists regard this as a Superphylum, with three phyla. Here, the chordata has three sub-phyla:
Urochordata: the tunicates.
Cephalochordata: the lancelates, such as the former Amphioxus.
Craniata or Vertebrata: the vertebrates. About 60,000 species recognised. The term vertebrate usually now excludes the lamprey and hagfish, which are included in the broader term craniate.
Other Bilateria phyla
Cycliophora: a recently discovered group of tiny animals which live on lobsters. One genus and three species so far.
Gnathostomulida: jaw worms, a small phylum of small marine animals (100 species). Hermaphrodite, live in muddy benthic habitat, scape food from particles with their jaw.
Chaetognatha: arrow worms. Only about 120 species, but huge numbers in the plankton; some are benthic. They are predators, up to 12 cm long. They use a neurotoxin to subdue prey.
Orthonectida: a small phylum of parasites of marine invertebrates.
Non-Bilateria
Cnidaria: a large phylum, with an extensive fossil record. 10,000 living species. Aquatic, mainly marine, five classes:
Anthozoa (sea anemones, corals)
Scyphozoa (true jellyfish)
Cubozoa (box jellies)
Staurozoa (stalked jellyfish).
Hydrozoa: the hydroids
Placozoa: Two described species: Trichoplax adhaerens, discovered in 1883 and '''Hoilungia hongkongensis'''. Small, about 2mm, aquatic, eats bacteria and single-celled algae & protozoa.
Ctenophora: comb jellies. ~200 described species, Aquatic, all marine, usually transparent with eight comb rows of fused cilia. Mostly pelagic but several benthic species.
Porifera: sponges. 5000 species, aquatic mainly marine but several fresh water species, Have collared cells with long cilia. Sessile, have cell differentiation. Skeleton are of spongin, or are calcareous CaCO3, or silicious SiO2.
Reflections
At least 21 phyla are exclusively aquatic, with several others in quasi-aquatic habitats on land. None are entirely terrestrial. This is testimony to the importance of water for life, and to the sea in particular. It is fairly certain that all phyla originated in the sea or, at any rate, in water. Most made their first showing in the Cambrian, or in the Ediacaran. Most of the soft-bodied phyla have left few fossils.
Phyla may be grouped according to evidence about their evolutionary relationships. The list above puts similar groups together.
This kind of megataxonomy is becoming more convincing as DNA sequence analysis proceeds through the phyla. Some entirely fossil groups are still placed where they are on anatomy and commonsense rather than hard molecular evidence. The trilobites are a good example. Their position in the Arthropoda is based on not much more than their bilateral symmetry and an exoskeleton. These groupings are discussed further in the references to this page.
Sortable table
This table has the advantage of being sortable. The terminology differs in places from the above descriptions. Also, by listing living species only for most phyla, those with huge fossil records (like Bryozoa and Brachiopods) are lower in the order despite being important aquatic forms in the Palaeozoic era.
Groups formerly ranked as phyla
This list is to help when you read older literature which may use out-of-date terms.