A
trochophore is a type of free-swimming
planktonPlankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
ic marine
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
with several bands of cilia.
By moving their cilia rapidly, a water eddy is created. In this way they control the direction of their movement. Additionally, in this way they bring their food closer, in order to capture it more easily.
Trochophores are found in the trochozoan phyla, which include the
entoproctsEntoprocta, whose name means "anus inside", is a phylum of mostly sessile aquatic animals, ranging from long. Mature individuals are goblet-shaped, on relatively long stalks. They have a "crown" of solid tentacles whose cilia generate water currents that draw food particles towards the mouth,...
, mollusks,
annelidThe annelids, collectively called Annelida , are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches. They are found in marine environments from tidal zones to hydrothermal vents, in freshwater, and in moist terrestrial environments...
s,
echiuraThe Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of marine animals. They are often considered to be a group of annelids, although they lack the segmented structure found in other members of that group, and so may also be treated as a separate phylum...
ns,
sipunculaThe Sipuncula or Sipunculida, sipunculid worms or peanut worms, are a phylum containing 144-320 species of bilaterally symmetrical, unsegmented marine worms...
ns and
nemerteaNemertea is a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms.
Most of the 1,400 or so species are marine, with a few living in fresh water and a small number of terrestrial forms; they are found in all marine habits, and throughout the world's oceans...
ns.
Discussion
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A
trochophore is a type of free-swimming
planktonPlankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
ic marine
larvaA larva is a young form of animal with indirect development, going through or undergoing metamorphosis ....
with several bands of cilia.
By moving their cilia rapidly, a water eddy is created. In this way they control the direction of their movement. Additionally, in this way they bring their food closer, in order to capture it more easily.
Occurrence
Trochophores are found in the trochozoan phyla, which include the
entoproctsEntoprocta, whose name means "anus inside", is a phylum of mostly sessile aquatic animals, ranging from long. Mature individuals are goblet-shaped, on relatively long stalks. They have a "crown" of solid tentacles whose cilia generate water currents that draw food particles towards the mouth,...
, mollusks,
annelidThe annelids, collectively called Annelida , are a large phylum of segmented worms, with over 17,000 modern species including ragworms, earthworms and leeches. They are found in marine environments from tidal zones to hydrothermal vents, in freshwater, and in moist terrestrial environments...
s,
echiuraThe Echiura, or spoon worms, are a small group of marine animals. They are often considered to be a group of annelids, although they lack the segmented structure found in other members of that group, and so may also be treated as a separate phylum...
ns,
sipunculaThe Sipuncula or Sipunculida, sipunculid worms or peanut worms, are a phylum containing 144-320 species of bilaterally symmetrical, unsegmented marine worms...
ns and
nemerteaNemertea is a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as ribbon worms or proboscis worms.
Most of the 1,400 or so species are marine, with a few living in fresh water and a small number of terrestrial forms; they are found in all marine habits, and throughout the world's oceans...
ns. Together, these phyla make up part of the
LophotrochozoaThe Lophotrochozoa are a major grouping of protostome animals. The taxon was introduced in 1995 in a paper by Kenneth M Halanych et al. based on molecular data...
; it is possible that trochophore larvae were present in the life cycle of the group's common ancestor.
Life cycle
Trochophores are hatched from eggs. The stadium of a trochophore larva lasts for a few hours and then it changes into another free-swimming
veligerA veliger is the planktonic larva of many kinds of marine and fresh-water gastropod molluscs, as well as a number of bivalves .- Description :...
larva (in some gastropods and in some bivalves) or into a
metatrochophoreA metatrochophore is a type of larva developed from the trochophore larva of a polychaete annelid.Metatrochophores have a number of features trochophores don't, including eyespots and segments....
or into a postlarvae
juvenileA juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour....
which lands on the
substrateIn biology a substrate is the surface a plant or animal lives upon. The substrate can include biotic or abiotic materials. For example, encrusting algae that lives on a rock can be substrate for another animal that lives above the algae on the rock. See also substrate .-External links:*...
.