Knowra Lophophore Lophophore A crown of ciliated tentacles surrounding the mouth in certain aquatic invertebrates. It creates water currents that capture suspended food and carry it toward the mouth.
Ciliary feeding : A feeding process in which cilia move water and transport suspended particles toward an animal's mouth. Lophophore cilia generate the currents that bring food particles to the mouth.
Bryozoa : A phylum of mostly colonial aquatic invertebrates that filter food using lophophores. Bryozoans bear lophophores that extend from individual zooids.
Trochophore : A ciliated, free-swimming larval form found in several marine invertebrate groups. Unlike a lophophore, a trochophore is a developmental stage, not an adult feeding crown.
Lophophorata : A proposed grouping of animals that possess lophophores, especially bryozoans, brachiopods, and phoronids. This grouping takes its name from the shared feeding structure, though its evolutionary status is debated.
Brachiopod fossil : The preserved remains or traces of a brachiopod, a shelled marine invertebrate. Fossil brachiopod shells can preserve evidence of internal supports for the lophophore.
Suspension feeding : A feeding strategy that captures food particles suspended in water. The lophophore is a specialized structure for suspension feeding.
Brachiopoda : A phylum of marine invertebrates with two shells enclosing a body and a lophophore. Brachiopods use a lophophore within their shells to capture food.
Veliger : A molluscan larva with a ciliated swimming and feeding organ called the velum. The velum is a larval ciliated structure distinct from the lophophore.
Spiralia : A major animal lineage that includes mollusks, annelids, brachiopods, and several other groups. Molecular studies place the principal lophophore-bearing phyla within Spiralia.
Crura : Paired skeletal supports in many brachiopods that extend from the hinge region toward the lophophore. Crura help support the lophophore and can be informative in brachiopod classification.
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