How do cilia help lamp shells feed?

Lamp shells, which belong to the phylum Brachiopoda, utilize cilia—tiny, hairlike structures—to facilitate filter feeding through their lophophore, a specialized horseshoe-shaped organ.12

The feeding process functions as follows:

• Generating Currents: By lashing their cilia, lamp shells create water currents that draw food-bearing water into the shell.12
• Trapping and Transporting: The cilia are attached to the filaments of the lophophore. As water passes through, these cilia help capture minute organisms or organic particles, often trapping them in mucus.1
• Directing Food: Once captured, the food particles are moved by cilia along grooves in the lophophore directly to the animal's mouth.1

This mechanism allows lamp shells to efficiently strain suspended nutrients from the surrounding seawater.13