[Academic Script]

Agnatha – Classification upto orders

Subject: Zoology

Course: B.Sc. 2nd Year

Paper No. & Title: Z-201B

Animal Diversity-II

Topic No. & Title: Topic – 3

Agnatha –
Classification upto
orders

Lecture Title: Agnatha –

Classification upto
orders

 
  

  Academic Script: -

1.Introduction:

There are innumerable varieties of animals ranging from

a microscopic amoeba to a gigantic whale. For convenience
these animals are sorted out in groups according to their
fundamental similarities and differences. The classification
helps us to identify the animals, to know their general
characters, to understand their affinities with each other and
their probable position in the history of evolution. A large
number of animals classify under phylum chordate.

It is divided into two main groups Acrania and

Craniata.

Group I:
Acrania (Protochordata)
(Chordates without cranium, jaws and brain)

Sub phylum: a. Hemichordata

Class: 1. Enteropneusta
Class: 2. Pterobranchia

Subphylum: b. Urochordata
Class: 1. Larvacea
Class: 2. Ascidiacea
Class: 3. Thaliacea
Subphylum: c. Cephalochordata
Class: 1. Leptocardii

Group II :
Craniata
(Chordates with cranium, jaws, and brain)

Subphylum: a. Agnatha
Without true jaws or paired appendages.
Class: 1. Ostracodermi
Class: 2. Cyclostomata

Subphylum: b. Gnathostomata
Class: 1. Elasmobranchi
Class: 2. Holocephali
Class: 3. Dipnoi
Class: 4. Teleostomi
Class: 5. Amphibian
Class: 6. Reptilian
Class: 7. Aves
Class: 8. Mammalian

2.History:

Living jawless fishes are represented by approximately

84 species divided between two classes: Myxini (hagfishes)
with about 43 species and Cephalaspidomorphi (lampreys)
with 41 species. Members of both groups lack jaws, internal
ossification, scales, and paired fins, and both groups share
pore like gill openings and an eel-like body form. In other
 respects, however, the two groups are morphologically very
different. Hagfishes are certainly the least derived of the two,
while lampreys bear many derived morphological characters
that place them phylogenetically much closer to
gnathostomes than to hagfishes. Because of these
differences, hagfishes and lampreys have been assigned to
separate vertebrate classes, leaving the grouping “Agnatha”
as a paraphyletic assemblage of jawless fishes.

Subphylum:
AGNATHA

HAGFISHES LAMPREYS

Well known examples of Agnatha are hagfishes and lampreys.

So we will discussed the history of hagfish and lamprey first
and then the in detail classification of agnatha.

Class Myxini: Hagfishes

• Hagfishes are an entirely marine group that feeds on
annelids, molluscs, crustaceans, and dead or dying fishes.
• Thus they are not parasitic like lampreys but are scavengers
and predators. There are 43 described species of hagfishes,
of which the best known in North America are the Atlantic
hagfish Myxine glutinosa (Gr. myxa, slime) and the Pacific
 hagfish Eptatretus stouti (N. L. ept, Gr. hepta, seven _ tretos,
perforated).
• Although almost completely blind, the hagfish is quickly
attracted to food, especially dead or dying fishes, by its
keenly developed senses of smell and touch.
• The hagfish enters a dead or dying animal through an orifice
or by digging inside.
• Using two toothed, keratinized plates on the tongue that fold
together in a pincer like action, the hagfish rasps away bits of
flesh from its prey.
• For extra leverage, the hagfish often ties a knot in its tail,
and then passes it forward along the body until it is pressed
securely against the side of its prey. Hagfishes are renowned
for their ability to generate enormous quantities of slime.
• If disturbed or roughly handled, the hagfish exudes a milky
fluid from special glands positioned along the body.
• On contact with seawater, the fluid forms slime so slippery
that the animal is almost impossible to grasp.
• Unlike any other vertebrate, the body fluids of hagfishes are
in osmotic equilibrium with seawater, as in most marine
invertebrates.
• Hagfishes have several other anatomical and physiological
peculiarities, including a low pressure circulatory system
served by three accessory hearts in addition to the main
heart positioned behind the gills.
• It is known that females, which in some species outnumber
males 100 to one, produce small numbers of surprisingly
large, yolky eggs 2 to 7 cm in diameter depending on the
species.
• There is no larval stage.
 Class Cephalaspidomorphi
(Petromyzontes): Lampreys
• All the lampreys of the Northern Hemisphere belong to the
family Petromyzontidae (Gr. petros, stone, _ myzon,
sucking).
• The group name refers to the lamprey’s habit of grasping a
stone with its mouth to hold position in a current.
• The destructive marine lamprey Petromyzon marinus is found
on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean (in America and Europe)
and may attain a length of 1 m. Lampetra (L. lambo, to lick
or lap up) also has a wide distribution in North America and
Eurasia and ranges from 15 to 60 cm long.
• There are 22 species of lampreys in North America. About
half of these belong to the nonparasitic brook type; the
others are parasitic.
• The genus Ichthyomyzon (Gr. ichthyos, fish, _ myzon,
sucking), which includes three parasitic and three
nonparasitic species, is restricted to eastern North America.
• On the west coast of North America the chief marine form is
Lampetra tridentatus.
• All lampreys ascend freshwater streams to breed. The marine
forms are anadromous (Gr. anadromos, running upward);
that is, they leave the sea where they spend their adult lives
to swim up streams to spawn.
• In North America all lampreys spawn in winter or spring.
• Males begin nest building and are joined later by females.
Using their oral discs to lift stones and pebbles and vigorous
body vibrations to sweep away light debris, they form an oval
depression.
• At spawning, with the female attached to a rock to maintain
her position over the nest, the male attaches to the dorsal
side of her head.
• As eggs are shed into the nest, they are fertilized by the
male.
• The sticky eggs adhere to pebbles in the nest and quickly
become covered with sand. The adults die soon after
spawning.
• The eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, releasing small larvae
(ammocoetes), which are so unlike their parents that early
biologists thought they were a separate species.
• The larva bears a remarkable resemblance to amphioxus and
possesses the basic chordate characteristics in such simplified
and easily visualized form that it has been considered a
chordate archetype.
• After absorbing the remainder of its yolk supply, the young
ammocoete, now about 7 mm long, leaves the nest gravel
and drifts downstream to burrow in some suitable sandy, low-
current area.
• The larva takes up a suspension-feeding existence while
growing slowly for 3 to 7 or more years, and then rapidly
metamorphoses into an adult.
• This change involves the eruption of eyes, replacement of the
hood by the oral disc with keratinized teeth, enlargement of
fins, maturation of gonads, and modification of the gill
openings.
• Parasitic lampreys either migrate to the sea, if marine, or
remain in fresh water, where they attach themselves by their
sucker like mouth to a fish and, with their sharp keratinized
teeth, rasp away the flesh and suck out body fluids.
• To promote the flow of blood, the lamprey injects an
anticoagulant into the wound.
• When gorged, the lamprey releases its hold but leaves the
fish with a large, gaping wound that is sometimes fatal.
• The parasitic freshwater adults live 1 to 2 years before
spawning and then die; the anadromous forms live 2 to 3
years.
• Nonparasitic lampreys do not feed after emerging as adults
and their alimentary canal degenerates to a non-functional
strand of tissue.
• Within a few months they also spawn and die.

3. Classification:

Now, we talk about the sub-phylum Agnatha and the full

classification of agnatha. How we will identify the sub-
phylum, with the help of their general characters.

General Characters of Agnatha

• Agnatha are earliest known vertebrates and characterized by
the absence of jaws.
• Teeth, paired appendages and exoskeleton are absent.
• Skull has a membranous roof.
• Single median nasal opening.
• Vertebral column consists of a persistent notochord with a
fibrous neural tube.
• Presence of large number of gill-slits, from 7-14 pairs.
• Absence of conus in the heart.
• A persistent hypophysial sac.
• One or two semicircular ducts in the ear.
• Long kidneys and long archinephric ducts.
• Genital ducts absent.
• Pineal apparatus fairly well-developed.
• Larval stage is microphagus and has an endostyle like
protochordates.

Subphylum: AGNATHA

Class 1: Class 2:
OSTRACODERMI CYCLOSTOMATA

Order1: Petromyzontia Order2: Myxinoidea

Subphylum Agnatha is divided into two classes: Ostracodermi

and Cyclostomata. The cyclostomata is further sub-divided
into two orders petromyzontia and myxinoidea.

Class1. Ostracodermi
What are the general characters of these how we will identify
the class ostracodermi.
• Fossil jawless agnatha of fresh water.
• They had fish-like bodies with heavy head armour.
• They had heavy bony dermal plates in the skin.
• Some of the forms had one pair of fins behind the head.
• They had single nostril on the top of the head.
• There was a slit-like mouth at the extreme front end of the
head. It was used for scooping decaying matter from the floor
of the lake.
• The paired eyes were situated on the top of the head. Median
pineal eye was also present.
• The gill-slits were round and all have similar gill-pouches.
• The endoskeleton was moderately ossified.
• Two semi-circular canals were mostly present in the ear.
Example: Cephalaspis

1. Cephalaspis
• Cephalaspis is a bottom dweller and inhabits the shallow
waters.
• It excavates through mud and sucks in minute food particles
that enter through the mouth. It has a small fish like body.
• The body is divided into head, trunk and tail.
• The head is dorsoventrally flattened and remains convert by a
stout bony carapace.
• The trunk is protected by bony plates which are oriented
vertically.
• A median dorsal fin is present in the posterior part of trunk.
• The tail is heterocercal and is provided with small scales.
• The head shield is formed of a single bony piece which is
projected posteriorly in the form of two lateral horns, one on
each side of the head.
• There are two lobed pectoral fins attached to the lateral
plates.
• A pair of closely placed eyes is present on the top of the
head.
• A single median nostril is situated immediately in front of the
eyes.
• A small pineal opening is placed in between the eyes.
• Two prominent dorso-lateral depressions called the lateral
sensory fields have been observed.
• The ventral surface of the head is protected by a few small
fine plates.
• The mouth is a circular opening lying at the anterior end of
the ventral surface.
• The mouth is devoid of bitting jaws.
• The gill-slits are round openings and are arranged in two
semi-circles on either side of the mouth.
• There are about ten pairs of gill-slits.
• Internal anatomy of cephalaspis is not completely known.

4.Classification:

Class2. Cyclostomata
• Body is long, rounded and eel-like.
• Skin is soft, smooth and without exoskeleton.
• Mouth is suctorial devoid of functional jaws.
• Nostril is single and median.
• Paired fins or lateral appendages are absent.
• Skeleton is cartilaginous.
• Notochord is persistent.
• Heart is two chambered and aortic arches are many.
• Single gonad without duct.
• Development is direct or indirect.

Order1 Petromyzontia
• Dorsal fin well developed and branchial basket complete.
• The naso-hypophysial sac terminates posteriorly in a blind
sac,i.e.,it does communicate with the mouth.
• Mouth suctorial with rasping tongue.
• Seven pairs of gill-slits.
• The gills open into a respiratory tube below the oesophagus.
• Development is indirect.
Example: Petromyzon

2. Petromyzon
• Body long, cylindrical and eel-like.
• Upper lip highly developed and forms a buccal funnel.
• Mouth at the bottom of the buccal funnel.
• Tongue rasping.
• Two separated dorsal fins and caudal fins.
• Eyes well developed.
• Nasal orifice at the top of the head and ends blindly.
• Branchial basket well developed.
• Nasopharyngeal duct closed behind.
• Presence of two semicircular canals.

Order2 Myxinoidea
• Dorsal fin absent
• Branchial basket is reduced.
• The naso-hypophysial sac opens posteriorly in the mouth.
• Mouth is terminal and surrounded by 6 small tentacles.
• Gill-slits 6-14 pairs.
• Development is direct.
Examples: Myxine, Bdellostoma

3. Myxine
• Myxine is commonly known as hagfish. It is found buried in
the sea bottom.
• Myxine has a wide distribution along sea coasts of both
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, occurring in the waters of
Northern Europe, North Atlantic, America, Chili and Japan,etc.
• Body is eel-like, measuring about 2 feet in length and
differential into head, trunk and tail.
• The surface of the body is smooth and soft without scales.
• The mouth is terminal and surrounded by soft lips.
• Buccal funnel and jaws are absent.
• Branchial basket is also reduced.
• Lateral to the mouth are four pairs of short tentacles
supported by skeletal rods.
• Nostril is single, lies very close to the mouth and opens
terminally.
• Single pineal eye is visible on the top of the head.
• Paired eyes are vestigial or degenerated due to bottom
dwelling habits. Six pairs of gills which do not open separately
to the outside but open by a single external gill opening.
• Single median fin runs from about the middle of the ventral
surface extending around the tail region.
• Large mucous glands are present opening by mucous pores.
Hermaphrodite with single ovotestis, anterior part being
ovary and posterior testis.
• These animals are parasitic or quasi-parasitic because they
are sometimes found within the bodies of their prey, which
are fishes of various types. Nocturnal feeders.
• During the day time they live buried in the sea bottom mud
at depth of over 2000 feet
4. Bdellostoma
• Bdellostoma is also commonly known as hagfish. It is buried
in the bottom mud of sea.
• It occurs off the pacific coasts of both North and South
America, South Africa and New Zealand.
• The long eel-like body has soft integuments without scales.
• The mouth is terminal surrounded by soft lips.
• Buccal funnel and jaws are absent.
• Four pairs of short tentacles supported by skeletal rods are
present on the lateral sides of the mouth.
• The single nostril lies very close to the mouth and opens
terminally. Single pineal eye is present on the top of the
head.
• Paired eyes are vestigial or degenerated due to the bottom
dwelling habits.
• The gills openings are 6-14 in number which all open
independently by round pores.
• The median fin is confined to the caudal region.
• Large slime or mucous glands are present opening by mucous
pores. Hermaphrodite. Single ovotestis, the anterior part
being ovary and the posterior testis.
• It is parasitic or quasi-parasitic. Nocturnal feeders.
• During the day time they live buried in the sea bottom mud.

5.Summary:

To summarise we have seen the classification of the

very special phylum Agnatha which is sub-divided into 2 main
classes. We also study the various examples of this phylum
with the help of general characters.