Know These Taxa
Marine Biology 2005
Kingdom: Monera and Archaea – similar on the outside, worlds apart on the inside,
but familiarly (and misleadlingly) lumped as “bacteria.”
What to know: what makes each prokaryote phylum distinct, and how and where each
functions in marine ecosystems.
Phylum: Cyanobacteria – photosynthetic bacteria, wrongly called “bluegreen
algae”
Phylum: Chemoautotrophic bacteria
Phylum: Fermenting bacteria
Phylum: Chloroxybacteria
Phylum: Thiopneutes
Phylum: Methanocreatices
Kingdom: Protoctista- sometimes called “Protista”- commonly known as protozoans.
What to know: what each of these are, what they look like, and how they function in
marine ecosystems.
Phylum: Sarcomastigophora - amoeba-like organisms
Phylum: Ciliophora – ciliated organisms
Phylum: Dinophyta - dinoflagellates - lack a nuclear envelope
Phylum: Chrysophyta - golden algae
Phylum: Chlorophyta - green algae
Phylum: Phlaeophyta - brown algae
Phylum: Rhodophyta - red algae
Phylum: Bacillariophyta - diatoms
Phylum: Chrysophyta - silicoflagellates
Phylum: Haptophyta - coccolithophorids
Phylum: Cryptophyta - cryptomonads
Phylum: Foraminifera – amoeba-like organisms usually with a calcareous shell
Phylum: Polycystina - radiolarians
Kingdom: Animalia
What to know: You should know how to recognize members of each phylum, and be
familiar with and know examples of all the common marine animals down to the
level of class.
Phylum: Porifera – the sponges
Class: Calcarea Class: Hexactinellida Class: Demospongiae Subclass: scleraspongiae Phylum: Cnidaria - coelenterates
Class: Hydrozoa - medusa and polyp stages both important
Class: Scyphozoa - jellyfish (lion’s mane) - medusa usually dominant
Class: Anthozoa - sea anemones, corals- polyp usually dominant
Class: Placozoa – secondarily reduced to the simplest of all metazoans
Class: Cubozoa- sea wasps, cubomedusae (recently given their own class)
Phylum: Ctenophora - like Cnidaria, but no stinging cells – largest organisms to
rely on cilia as primary means of locomotion
Phylum: Platyhelminthes – flatworms
Phylum: Nematoda - roundworms
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Polyplacophora – chitons- serial, separate plates, like armor suite
Class: Gastropoda - snails, slugs, etc.
Class: Scaphopoda - tusk/tooth shells
Class: Bivalvia - left/right shell structure (scallop, clam, oyster)
Class: Cephalopoda - external shell (nautilus), internal remnants of a shell
(squids), or no shell (octopus)
Phylum: Chaetognatha - arrow worms
Phylum: Annelida - true worms
Class: Polychaeta - marine segmented worms
Class: Hirudinea - leeches
Class: Oligochaeta - earthworms, sewer worms
Phylum: Arthropoda- organisms with segmented exoskeleton
Class: Merostomata - horseshoe crabs
Class: Pycnogonida - sea spiders
Class: Crustacea
Subclass: Branchiopoda Subclass: Ostracoda- shrimp-like bivalved creatures
Subclass: Copepoda- often comprise most of the zooplankton
Subclass: Cirripedia - barnacles
Subclass: Malacostraca
Order: Stomatopoda - mantis shrimp
Order: Mysida – small shrimp
Order: Euphausiacea - krill
Order: Decapoda Swimming decapods (shrimp)
Walking decapods (lobsters, crabs)
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Echinodea - sea urchins, sand dwellers
Class: Asteroidea - starfish
Class: Ophiuroidea - brittle stars
Class: Crinoidea - feather stars
Class: Holothuriodea - sea cucumbers
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Urochordata
Class: Ascidiacea
Subph!ylum: Cephalochordata
Class
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Agnatha - jawless fishes
Class: Chondrichthyes = Elasmobranchiomorpha- sharks, rays,
chimaeras, and probably placoderms
Class: Osteichthyes - THE BONY FISHES
Paraphyletic group: Chondrostei
Paraphyletic group: Holostei
Subclass Teleostei
Subclass Sarcopterygii
Class: Amphibia
Class: Reptilia
Class: Dinosauria (including Aves)
Class: Mammalia