Lab 5: Animal Diversity Part 1

Developed from Campbell Biology Canadian 3rd edition

Pearson Canada. 2024
Edited by Dr. Amandeep Glory and Dr. Andrew Wieczorek

General information on Animals:

The animal kingdom extends far beyond humans and other animals we commonly encounter.
Generally, the Kingdom Animalia includes all multicellular organisms that obtain nutrients and
energy by ingesting other organisms and at some stage of their life cycle use muscles to move.
However, there are exceptions to nearly every criterion for distinguishing animals from other life-
forms. But several characteristics, taken together, sufficiently define the group.

Animals are multicellular heterotrophs, lacks cell wall, usually have well defined nervous and
muscular systems. Most animals reproduce sexually, with diploid stage usually dominating life cycle.
After a sperm fertilizes an egg, the zygote undergoes rapid cell division called cleavage Cleavage leads
to formation of a multicellular, hollow blastula. The blastula undergoes gastrulation, forming a
gastrula with different layers of embryonic tissues. Most animals have at least one larval stage. A
larva is sexually immature and morphologically distinct from the adult; it eventually undergoes
metamorphosis to become a juvenile. A juvenile resembles an adult but is not yet sexually mature.

Animal body plans also vary according to the organization of the animal’s tissues. During
development, three germ layers give rise to tissues and organs of animal embryos. Ectoderm is the
germ layer covering the embryo’s surface. Endoderm is the innermost germ layer and lines the
developing digestive tube, called archenteron. Diploblastic animals have ectoderm and endoderm.
Triploblastic animals also have an intervening mesoderm layer. Most triploblastic animals possess a
body cavity. A true body cavity is called a coelom and is derived from mesoderm. Coelomates are
animals that possess a true coelom. Triploblastic animals that lack a body cavity are called
acoelomates. A pseudocoelom is a body cavity derived from mesoderm and endoderm. Triploblastic
animals possessing a pseudocoelom called pseudocoelomates.

In summary:
Acoelomate: In acoelomates, the space between the body wall and the digestive system is filled with
parenchyma tissue. Parenchyma is derived from mesoderm and gives the organism a solid appearance
when viewed in cross section.

Pseudocoelomate: In pseudocoelomates, a space exists between the digestive tract and the muscle
layer of the body wall. Technically, the pseudocoelom lies between tissues derived from endoderm
(digestive system) and mesoderm (musculature of the body wall).

Coelomate: In coelomates, the cavity develops within the mesodermal tissue itself. As the cavity
expands, the mesodermal tissue forms a thin, continuous layer around the inner surface of the body
wall and also forms a thin covering over the internal organs. This layer is called the peritoneum and
it encloses the coelom.

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Figure 1: Different type of coelom: animal with true coelom (a), with pseudocoelom (b) and
acoelomate (c).

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Based on early development, many animals can be categorized as having protostome development or
deuterostome development. In protostome development, cleavage is spiral and determinate. In
protostome development, the blastopore becomes the mouth. In deuterostome development, cleavage
radial and indeterminate. In deuterostome development, mesoderm buds from the wall of the
archenteron to form the coelom. In deuterostome development, the blastopore becomes the anus.

Figure 2: Protostome vs Deuterstome development in relations of cleavage (a), coelom formation (b)
and fate of blastopore (c)

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Animal Phylogeny: Kingdom Animalia belongs to Supergroup Unikonta (along with fungi and some
protits). There are few important key concepts about phylogeny of animals, namely
all animals share a common ancestor, sponges are basal animals, eumetazoa (“true animals”) is a clade
of animals with true tissues and most animal phyla belong to the clade Bilateria, and are called
bilaterians. There are 3 major clades of bilaterian animals (Deuterostomia, Ecdysozoa and
Lophotrochozoa), all of which are invertebrates (animals that lack a backbone), except Chordata,
which are classified as vertebrates because they have a backbone.

Figure 3: A view of animal phylogeny based mainly on molecular data.

Animals can be categorized according to symmetry of their bodies, or lack of it. Some have radial
symmetry, with no front and back, or left and right but you can get 2 equal halves of the animals if
you cut through any central axis. Two-sided symmetry is called bilateral symmetry. Bilaterally
symmetrical animals have a dorsal (top) side and a ventral (bottom) side, a right and left side, and
Anterior (front) and posterior (back) ends. Radial animals are often sessile or planktonic (drifting or
weakly swimming). Bilateral animals often move actively and have a central nervous system.

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All animals are metazoans, that is, they are multicellular. Also, all animals are eumetazoans, except
Porifera. Sponges and a few other groups lack true tissues. Eumetazoans have all 4 different types of
tissues, namely, epithelium, connective, muscular and nervous tissues. Eumetazoans can be
diploblastic (have 2 germ layers ectoderm and endoderm) or triploblastic (have 3 germ layers:
ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm). Please see above text and figure for details. Example of
diploblastic animals include cnidarians. Animals with bilateral symmetry are triploblastic. Examples
of bilaterians includes flatworms, arthropods, and vertebrates. Triploblastic animals follow one of the 2
types of embryonic development: protostome (the blastopore becomes the mouth) or deuterostomes
(the blastopore becomes the anus). Echinoderms and chordates are deuterostomes. Triploblastic
animals can be acoelomate, pseudocoelomate or coelomate (see text and figure above).

This week’s lab will cover all the invertebrates except arthropods and molluscs, which will be studied
in the next lab. Invertebrates are animals lacking a backbone.

Porifera: Animals in the phylum Porifera are known informally as sponges. They are sedentary and
live in marine or fresh water. Sponges are suspension feeders, capturing food particles suspended in
water passing through their body. Water is drawn through pores into a cavity called the spongocoel
and out through an opening called the osculum. Sponges lack true tissues and organs. However, they
have different types of cells specialized for different functions Most sponges are hermaphrodites, that
is, organisms function as both male and female.

Representative taxa: plastic model

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Cnidarians: Cnidarians have diversified into a wide range of both sessile and motile forms including
jellies, corals, anemones, and hydras. They exhibit a relatively simple diploblastic, radial body plan.
They have one opening that behaves as mouth and anus, similar to porifera. The basic body plan of
cnidarians is a sac with a central digestive compartment, the gastrovascular cavity. Cnidarians are
carnivores that use tentacles to capture prey. There are two variations on body plan:
1. the sessile polyp: A polyp adheres to the substrate by the aboral end of its body
2. motile medusa. A medusa has a bell-shaped body with its mouth on the underside. Medusae
do not attach to substrates but move freely.
The organisms can have either polpy form only or medusa form only or exhibit both polyp and medusa
forms in their life cycle.

Representative taxa: Hydra (polyp), Aurelia (medusa), and preserved coral and anemone specimens.

Echinodermata: these include sea stars, dollar stars, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, sea lilies and
sea urchins. echinoderms are the sister clade to Chordates. Adult echinoderms normally exhibit
pentaradial symmetry. That means that the body can be divided radially into five equal parts.
This is a feature of starfish. However, pentaradial symmetry is a secondary condition, which
means that the echinoderms are not born that way. Young echinoderms begin life as bilaterally
symmetrical creatures and the pentaradial symmetry develops during their metamorphosis to the
adult form. In addition to its effect on the external appearance of the organism, pentaradial
symmetry also has a major effect on the arrangement of the internal organ systems.

The body of the starfish is made up of two regions, the central disc and the arms or rays that project
from the central disc. The dorsal surface is referred to as the aboral surface. The anus is situated on the
aboral surface but is difficult to see in preserved specimens. A second structure called the madreporite
is also present on the aboral surface of the central disc. It is an opening used to filter water into the
water vascular system of echinoderms. It is a conspicuous round structure, which is a part of the water
vascular system. In echinoderms, the ventral surface, where the mouth is located, is called the oral
surface; the mouth is in the middle. The other visible components of the water vascular system are the
podia or tube feet. They project from a groove called the ambulacral groove that extends along the
oral surface of each ray. Starfish use the tube feet for locomotion and to assist in capturing their prey.
Various structures may be seen projecting from the surface. There may be spines, which are dense
larger pointed bumps or papulae, which are hollow, thin walled, structures.

Representative taxon: Astrias (young and adult forms)

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Platyhelminthes: they are commonly known as flatworms. Examples include tapeworms,
planaria and flukes. They live in marine, freshwater, and damp terrestrial habitats. They can
be free-living(planaria) or parasitic (tapeworm). Flatworms have dorsoventrally flattened
body and hence the name flatworm. Their dorsoventrally flattened shape maximizes surface
area for gas exchange. Although flatworms undergo triploblastic development, they are
acoelomates. They have three types of muscles (longitudinal, circular, and diagonal). They
reproduce both asexually (budding or fission) or sexually. Flatworms have a gastrovascular
cavity with one opening. Gas exchange takes place across the surface, and protonephridia
regulate osmotic balance.

Representative taxon: Planaria

Rotifera: Rotifers, phylum Rotifera, are tiny animals that inhabit fresh water, the ocean, and damp
soil. They are smaller than many protists but truly multicellular and have specialized organ system.
Rotifers have alimentary canal, a digestive tube with a separate mouth and anus within a fluid-
filled pseudocoelom. Rotifers reproduce by parthenogenesis, in which females produce offspring
from unfertilized eggs. Some species are unusual in that they lack males entirely. Rotifers have a
crown of cilia to draw water into the mouth.

Representative taxa: None

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Annelids: they are known as segmented worms. Examples include: leeches and earthworms.
All annelids are cephalized (although it is not that apparent in all examples), more or less round in
cross section and have segmented bodies. Annelids are triploblastic, coelomates with bodies
composed of a series of fused rings, and bilateral symmetry. Phylum Annelida was traditionally
divided into three main groups:
– Polychaeta (polychaetes): Nereis
– Oligochaeta (oligochaetes): earthworm (Lumbricus)
– Hirudinea: leech (Hirudo)

Leeches secrete a chemical called hirudin to prevent blood from coagulating. Most species of
leeches live in fresh water; some are marine or terrestrial. Leeches include predators of
invertebrates, and parasites that suck blood.

Earthworms eat through soil, extracting nutrients as the soil moves through the alimentary canal.
Earthworms are hermaphrodites but cross-fertilize. Some reproduce asexually by fragmentation. At
each segment of the earthworm, the coelom is separated by a septum . Each segment has 4 pairs of
chaetae, used for locomotion along with mucles. They have longitudinal and circular muscles but
no diagonal muscles.

Representative taxon: Lumbricus (earthworm) specimen

Slide: cross section earthworm

Nematoda: commonly known as round worms and are unsegmented. They are found in most
aquatic habitats, in the soil, in moist tissues of plants, and in body fluids and tissues of animals.
They can be free living or parasitic. They usually have long cylindrical body. The head is reduced,
and tail is pointed or whip-like. There are only longitudinal muscles present in nematodes. They
are triploblastic, show protostome development and pseudocoelomates. The outer covering is called
cuticle which is periodically shed off as they grow.

Representative taxon: Ascaris

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Part II: Use a dichotomous key to assign unknown invertebrates to their
respective phylum
Copyright: Dr. Catherine Calogeropoulos
Edited: Amandeep Glory

Below is a character table followed by a dichotomous key that can be used to assign unknown
animal species to their respective the phyla. A character table lists the presence, absence or
modification of homologous characters of various taxa. In such tables, the characters appear in
rows while the taxa in columns. Based on the information on the character table, a dichotomous
key can be built. Dichotomous keys are then used to assign unknown animals to their respective
taxon. In this lab, both the character table and key are provided; in the next lab, you will be
creating both a character table and dichotomous key.

Constructing character Tables

Each cell in a character table represents a description of a character in a taxon (e.g. same,
modified or missing). Thus, by scanning across rows you can see at a glance how characters may
change among major taxa. Alternatively, scanning down a column you can see at a glance what
key characters you might use to identify taxa using a dichotomous key.

Constructing a Dichotomous Key

To construct a dichotomous key, you make a series of questions where the answer is either yes or
no (dichotomous), where, the outcome will either:
1: direct the reader to the next question that is necessary to identify an unknown organism
or,
2: identify the organism to the appropriate taxonomic level. This series of questions will
be based on your character table. This activity involves first making accurate and
repeatable observations and then having some logical system that groups taxa by their
characters and discriminates between them by their character combinations.

Important practice when constructing a dichotomous key:

ï Use observable characteristics.

ï These characters must be constant, NOT disappear or change during development or due
to environmental factors.
ï Start with the most general characteristics first, before moving to the more specific ones.
ï When writing paired contrasting statements, use similar word formats (i.e. have feathers
and do not have feathers).
ï Be specific in your statements. For example, use “4 or more legs” rather than vague terms
like “many legs”.
ï Avoid repeating the same characteristics in constructing the key.
ï Use questions that lead to yes or no answers rather than descriptive statements

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Dichotomous key for animal phyla studied in this lab.
1. A. Is asymmetrical. Phylum Porifera.
B. Has symmetry. Go to 2.

2. A. Radial symmetry. Go to 3.
B. Bilateral symmetry. Go to 4.
3. A. Has a polyp and/or medusa body shape. Phylum Cnidaria.
B. Has tube feet. Phylum Echinodermata.
4. A. Has a wheel of cilia near the mouth. Phylum Rotifera.
B. Does not have a wheel of cilia near the mouth. Go to 5.
5. A. Body is dorso-ventrally flattened. Phylum Platyhelminthes.
B. Body is not dorso-ventrally flattened. Go to 6.

6. A. Has a segmented body. Phylum Annelida.

B. Does not have a segmented body. Phylum Nematoda.

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 Lab 5 Invertebrates Part I
Animal phyla: Porifera, Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, Annelida, Nematoda, Echinodermata

Name and ID: Tu Wed Th Bench #

Part I: Identify the unique features of various invertebrate phyla and subphyla

1. Porifera: Sketch your observations of the sponge model displayed in the lab. Label the
pores, osculum and spongocoel.

Does porifera have separate mouth and anus openings:

Are sponges motile or non-motile:

Why does porifera not belong to Eumetazoans? ___________________________________

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2. Cnidaria:
a. Sketch your observations of the stained slides of Hydra: whole mount and cross-section.
Write the total magnification. Label the following:

For whole mount: tentacles, body, mouth, basal disc

For cross-section: epidermis, gastrodermis, mesoglea, and gastrovascular cavity

Whole mount:

Cross-section:

Body form of Hydra (Polyp vs medusa):

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Observe the Hydra slide on demo. Does it show budding. If so, how many buds can you see?
b. Sketch your observations of resin mount of Aurelia. Label the following structure: mouth/anus,
gonads and arms.

Body form of Aurelia (Polyp vs medusa):

Give one similarity and one difference between Porifera and Cnidaria?

Similarity: ___________________________________

Difference: ___________________________________

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3. Platyhelminthes:
a. Sketch your observations of whole mount and cross-section pre-stained slide of Planaria.
Indicate the total magnification. Label the following:

Whole mount: head, auricles, eyespots, mouth, pharynx, gastrovascular cavity (intestine)

Cross-section: epidermis, longitudinal muscles, circular muscles, diagonal muscles, pharynx,

pharyngeal cavity, diverticulum and parenchyma cells.

Whole mount

Cross section:

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b. Observe the resin mount specimen of tapeworm under dissecting microscope. Label the
following on the figure below: Rostellum, scolex, proglottid, suckers and hooks.

c. Observe the resin mount specimen of fluke under dissecting microscope. Draw and label
the mouth, oral sucker, ventral sucker, gonopore and digestive tract.

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4. Annelida:
a. Sketch your observations of the prepared slide of Lumbricus (earthworm). Make sure to
identify the following features: cuticle, epidermis, intestine, coelom, peritoneum, circular
muscles, longitudinal muscles, typhosole and chaetae. Indicate the total magnification.

b. Observe the preserved specimen of leech. Draw anterior sucker, posterior sucker and segments.

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5. Nematoda: Sketch your observations of the prepared slide of Ascaris. Make sure to identify
the following features: cuticle, hypodermis, gastrointestinal tract, hemocoel, longitudinal
muscles, and muscle attachments. Write the total magnification.
Note: there are male and female slides for Ascaris. There is no need to include sexes and gonads.

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6. Echinodermata: Sketch your observations of the preserved Asterias. Make sure to identify
all distinct features on aboral and oral surfaces.
Aboral surface: central disc, arms, anus, madreporite and the spines
Oral surface: mouth, tube feet and ambulacral groove.

Aboral

Oral

Observe the pre-stained slide for larval (young) form of Astrias. What type of symmetry is seen the
larval form in comparison to adult form. 18
7. Comparison between the 3 worms (Planaria, Ascaris and Lumbricus)

Planaria Ascaris Lumbricus

Phylum

Coelom

Name of the muscles

Diploblastic or
triploblastic

Note: Terms for coelom: Acoelomate, pseudocoelomate, coelomate

Terms for Muscles: longitudinal, circular, diagonal

8. What was objective of today’s lab?

9. Circle the correct options. In today’s lab, you have seen:

1. parasitic worm

2. free living worm

3. hermaphrodite worm

4. organisms with bilateral and radial symmetry

5. organisms with 5 mouths

6. organisms with 5 anus

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 Part II
Identifying organisms using a dichotomous key.

Using the dichotomous key (see Introduction), identify the organism on display to their
respective phylum

Specimen: Phylum

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