BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
LABORATORY ACTIVITY 3
ANIMAL CLASSIFICATION
BACKGROUND: Animals have been traditionally classified into phyla. The animal kingdom is divided
into at least 36 phyla. This number includes 27 minor and 9 major phyla. Each phylum is distinguished
by its structural and functional characteristics that are distinct from other animal groups. Additional
minor phyla in the animal kingdom are the following: phylum Loricifera, discovered in 1983;
Cycliophora, discovered in 1995; and the Micrognathozoa, discovered in Greenland in 2000. Most of
the animals have been discovered during the times of Aristotle and Linnaeus. Major animal groups
can be classified as either acoelomate (i.e., without cavity) or coelomate (i.e., with cavity).
Table 1. A list of some major animal phyla with their representative examples and approximate
number of species (Evangelista et al., 2022).
Phylum Typical Example Approximate number
of species
Acoelomate
Porifera Barrel sponge, Venus’ flower basket 8,000
Cnidaria Hydra, Jellyfish, Hard and soft corals, Sea Anemones 11,000
Platyhelminthes Planaria, Tapeworm, Blood fluke, and Liver fluke 20,000
Pseudocoelomate
Nematoda Ascaris, filarial worms, pinworms, and hookworms 25,000
Coelomate
Mollusca Clams, snails, oysters, squids, octopuses 110,000
Annelida Nereis worms, Eunice worms, tube worms. Earthworms, 16,000
leeches, fan worms, and other polychaetes
Arthropoda Insects, crustaceans, spiders, horseshoes crabs, 1,000,000
scorpions, millipedes, and centipedes
Echinodermata Sea urchins, sea stars, sea lilies, sand dollars, sea 7,000
cucumbers, and brittle stars
Chordata Amphioxus, hagfishes, teleosts, amphibians, reptiles, 45,000
birds, and mammals
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lab activity, the students should be able to:
1. Describe the general characteristics of each major animal phylum.
2. Draw and label representative species of each major animal phylum.
3. Define terms related to the anatomy of the major animal phyla.
MATERIALS:
Preserved animal specimens.
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
Procedures: Study and draw representative animal species for each taxon indicated below. Label
the major parts and fill in the blanks with the correct classification. You may use preserved animals
available in the laboratory or online materials as references.
1. Phylum Porifera – The general characteristics of this phylum include the following: (1)
Asymmetrical body and is pierced with thousands of pores, or ostia; (2) It consists of three main
cell types: pinacocytes, mesenchyme cells, and choanocytes; (3) No tissues and organs; and
(4) It has a central cavity that is filled with water during filter feeding.
Class Calcarea Class Demospongia
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Class Hexactinellida
Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
2. Phylum Cnidaria – The general characteristics of this phylum include the following: (1) Radially
symmetrical body; (2) Diploblastic tissue level of organization; (3) Two main body layers
separated by the mesoglea, a jelly-like layer; and (4) it has specialized cells called cnidocytes
used in defense, feeding, and attachment.
Class Anthozoa Class Hydrozoa
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Class Scyphozoa Class Cubozoa
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
3. Phylum Platyhelminthes – These animals have similar free-swimming larvae called a
trochophore and feeding structures made of hollow tentacles called a lophophore; hence,
these two groups fall under lophotrochozoa. The general characteristics of this phylum include
the following: (1) They are triploblastic, acoelomate, and bilaterally symmetrical; (2) They may
be free-living or parasites; (3) The body has a soft covering with or without cilia; and (4) Their
body is dorsoventrally flattened without any segments and appears like a leaf.
Class Turbellaria Class Trematoda
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Class Cestoda
Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
4. Phylum Nematoda – Nematodes, also called roundworms, are the most abundant and diverse
of all the worms. The general characteristics of this phylum include the following: (1)
Triploblastic, bilateral, vermiform (resembling a worm in shape; long and slender),
unsegmented, pseudocoelomate; (2) Body round in cross section and covered by a layered
collagenous cuticle; molting usually accompanies growth in juveniles; and (3) Complete
digestive tract; mouth usually surrounded by lips bearing sense organs.
Class _______________ Class _______________
Scientific name Ascaris lumbricoides Scientific name Enterobius vermicularis
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Class _______________ Class _______________
Scientific name Necator americanus Scientific name Trichinella spiralis
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
5. Phylum Mollusca – Unlike flatworms, mollusks, and other bilateral animals have a complete
digestive tract. They have two openings: the mouth and the anus, found on opposite ends.
This group is composed of different-looking members (i.e., oyster, squid, and octopus). The
following are the general characteristics of this phylum: (1) Ventral side of the body has a soft
muscular foot; (2) On the dorsal side, there is a visceral hump containing the main digestive
organs and protected by a shell; (3) Most mollusks have a rasping tongue-like radula for
feeding; (4) They have a mantle cavity where gills or ctenidia for respiration or filter feeding is
found; (5) majority have lost all traces of metameric segmentation; and (6) there is a
trochophore larva (small, free-swimming, and ciliated larva) during development.
Class Gastropoda Class Cephalopoda
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Class Bivalvia Class Scaphopoda
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
6. Phylum Annelida – Members of this phylum show a lot of similarity with each other, unlike the
mollusks, which are very different in forms. They are all segmented. Each segment contains
parts of the digestive tract, nerve cord, and blood vessels that carry blood to all parts of the
body. The following are the common features of this phylum: (1) Metamerism; (2) Segments
are separated by sheet-like septa; (3) In most annelids, each segment bears bristle-like
chaetae; (3) They possess nephridia for excretion and osmoregulation; (4) typically there is a
trochophore larva during development.
Clade/ Class Errantia Clade/ Class Errantia
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Clade/ Class Serrantia Clade/ Class Serrantia
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
7. Phylum Arthropoda – Arthropods are the most diverse and abundant of all the animals on
earth. They can be found almost anywhere. Arthropods are covered by chitinous exoskeleton
that protects and supports the tissues. Their joint-appendages became very important
adaptation during their evolution. The appendages have several uses, like jumping, walking,
alighting, chewing, and sensation. Their body also has segmentation like annelids, which
allows mobility, but the segments are not separated by septa. Some groups have compound
eyes for vision.
Class Arachnida Class Diplopoda _______________
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Class Chilopoda Class Insecta _______________
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
8. Phylum Echinodermata – Echinoderms are on the same evolutionary branch as chordates;
they are deuterostomic animals, meaning the origin of the anus is the blastopore. Adult
echinoderms are usually slow-moving and with radial type of symmetry. They are known for
their internal skeleton made up of interlocking calcium-based plates called ossicles. Their skin
contains calcareous ossicles and spines.
Class Asteroidea Class Ophiuroidea _______________
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Class Echinoidea Class Holothuroidea _______________
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
9. Phylum Chordata – This phylum is composed of three groups. One group includes all the
animals with backbones or vertebrates. The other two groups are tunicates and lancelets; they
are sometimes called invertebrates since they do not have a vertebral column. They have
notochord for support. The tunicates are also called urochordates and include both sessile
and free-swimming animals such as sea squirts. Lancelets or cephalochordates are usually
found along the sandy areas of the ocean where they filter food.
Subphylum Urochordata Subphylum Cephalochordata
Scientific name _______________ Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________ Common name _______________
Subphylum Craniata
Scientific name _______________
Common name _______________
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BIO1204 GENERAL ZOOLOGY LABORATORY
Guide Questions:
A. Complete the table below. Use the Zoology book 11th Edition by Miller et al. (2019) as the main
reference material.
Phylum Habitat Body Type Body Body Cavity Segmentation
(Symmetry) Organization (Acoelom,
(Number of Pseudocoelom,
Germ Layers) Coelom)
1. Porifera
2. Cnidaria
3. Platyhelminthes
4. Nematoda
5. Mollusca
6. Annelida
7. Arthropoda
8. Echinodermata
9. Chordata
(continuation)
Phylum Digestive Reproduction Nervous Other Representative
System System Features Animal Species
1. Porifera
2. Cnidaria
3. Platyhelminthes
4. Nematoda
5. Mollusca
6. Annelida
7. Arthropoda
8. Echinodermata
9. Chordata
References:
Evangelista, E. V., Evangelista, L.T., and Evangelista, L. A. (2022). Worktext in General Zoology: Frog
and Human Bodies Compared. C & E Publishing.
Hickman, C., Keen, S., Eisenhour, D., Larson, A., and I'Anson, H. (2020). Integrated Principles of
Zoology, 18th ed. (NY): McGraw Hill.
Miller, S. A., and Harley, J.P. (2019). Zoology 11th edition. McGraw Hill International Edition.
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