lophophore

invertebrate anatomy

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June 30, 2026

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The lophophore is a distinctive anatomical feature found in certain aquatic invertebrates, specifically within three phyla: Bryozoa (moss animals), Brachiopoda (lamp shells), and Phoronida (horseshoe worms). This structure is a fan-shaped arrangement of ciliated tentacles surrounding the animal's mouth. The beating of these cilia creates water currents that draw food particles towards the mouth, playing a crucial role in feeding. While these groups share the lophophore, they are not considered closely related to each other. The lophophore hypothesis suggests that fossilized conodonts may have been part of a lophophore organ used for respiration and filter-feeding.1234

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lamp shells
Behaviour and ecology
…to the filaments of the lophophore, a horseshoe-shaped organ that filters food particles from the seawater. Cilia in lophophore grooves bring food particles, often trapped in mucus, to the mouth. Brachiopods feed on minute organisms or organic particles. Articulate brachiopods, which have a blind intestine, may depend partly on dissolved…
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…to the filaments of the lophophore, a horseshoe-shaped organ that filters food particles from the seawater. Cilia in lophophore grooves bring food particles, often trapped in mucus, to the mouth. Brachiopods feed on minute organisms or organic particles. Articulate brachiopods, which have a blind intestine, may depend partly on dissolved…
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horseshoe worm
…by means of a protrusible lophophore, a structure at the anterior end that bears a circle or paired spiral of as many as 1,500 ciliated tentacles. The cilia produce a water current, and the tentacles trap food particles beneath a flap (epistome) that covers the central mouth. Groups of lophophores…
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…by means of a protrusible lophophore, a structure at the anterior end that bears a circle or paired spiral of as many as 1,500 ciliated tentacles. The cilia produce a water current, and the tentacles trap food particles beneath a flap (epistome) that covers the central mouth. Groups of lophophores…
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lophophorate
…invertebrate animals that possess a lophophore, a fan of ciliated tentacles around the mouth. Movements of the cilia create currents of water that carry food particles toward the mouth. The lophophorates include the moss animals (phylum Bryozoa), lamp shells (phylum Brachiopoda), and phoronid worms (phylum Phoronida). The phyla are no…
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…invertebrate animals that possess a lophophore, a fan of ciliated tentacles around the mouth. Movements of the cilia create currents of water that carry food particles toward the mouth. The lophophorates include the moss animals (phylum Bryozoa), lamp shells (phylum Brachiopoda), and phoronid worms (phylum Phoronida). The phyla are no…
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