Phoronids (
Phoronida) are a relatively small
animal phylum: twelve species are known, in two genera,
Phoronis and
Phoronopsis. Phoronids are
worm-shaped, but with a gut that loops and exits the body near the mouth, instead of running the length of the animal, as in
annelids (and many
vertebrates). Phoronids are found in marine sediments, ranging from the intertidal zone to 400 meters depth, but are commonest at depths of less than 70 meters. The adults secrete chitinous tubes in which to live. They feed using a
lophophore, a ciliated structure that surrounds the mouth.
Together with the Ectoprocta and Brachiopoda, the phoronids belong to the lophophorates, sometimes treated as a single phylum. There are no known phoronid fossils.
References
http://www.itis.usda.gov
TSN (phylum): 155456
TSN (family): 155457
