CHORDATA

By
Jane Yawe
Introduction
The name of this phylum is derived from two Greek words,
the chorde meaning a string or cord, and ata meaning bearing,
group or forms.
Thus chordates are animals having a cord , i.e., notochord.
They include about 45000species including many animals of
major economic importance.
Phylum Chordata includes the most highly evolved animals,
the vertebrates, as well as the marine invertebrate
cephalochordate, amphioxus and tunicates.
FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHORDATES

All chordates shows all or at least any one of the

following three fundamental characteristics
Notochord
Dorsal hollow nerve cord
Pharyngeal gill slits
Post anal tail
 Definition
The notochord is an elongated, flexible cartilaginous rod-like,
skeletal structure lies dorsal to the gut tube and ventral to the nerve
cord.
In most adult chordates the notochord disappearsor becomes highly
modified, or it is surrounded and replaced by a vertebral column.
In some non-vertebrate chordates and fishes the notochord persists
as a laterally flexible but incompressible skeletal rod.
 Definition
The nerve cord of chordates develops dorsally in the body
as longitudinal, a fluid filled hollow tube, lying just above
the notochord and extending lengthwise in the body.
In most species it differentiates in embryogeny into the
brain anteriorly and spinal cord that runs through the trunk
and tail.
Together the brain and spinal cord are thecentral nervous
system to which peripheralsensory and motor nerves
connect.
 Definition
In all chordates, at some stages of their life history, a series of paired
lateral gill cleft or gill slits perforate through the pharyngeal wall
of the gut behind the mouth.
These are variously termed as branchial, visceral or pharyngeal cleft or
pouches.
The soft and skeletal tissues between adjacent clefts are the visceral
arches.
Gill cleft serve primarily for the passage of water from the pharynx to
outside , thus bathing the gills for respiration.
The water current secondarily aid in filter feeding by retaining food
particles in the pharynx.
Fate of gill clefts
Non-vertebrate chordates
The clefts and arches are elaborated as straining devices concerned with capture
of small food particles from water and are function throughout life.

Fish-like vertebrates and juvenile amphibians

The walls of the pharyngeal clefts developinto gills that are organs of gas
exchange between the water and blood.

Adult amphibians and the amniotes tetrapods

The anterior most cleft transforms into the auditory tube and middle ear chamber,
whereas the other clefts disappear after making some important contributions to
glands lymphatic tissue in the throat region.
General characteristics of chordates
Bilateral symmetry
Triploblastic
Deuterostome
Complete digestive tract
Well developed coelom
Internal organs are suspended in the coelomic cavity by a thin membranous
tissue called mesentery
Sexual reproduction
Post anal tail
Classification of chordates
ACRANIATA (Protochordata)
They are the simple or first chordates in which brain box
(cranium) is absent and hence brain is not prominent.
Notochord does not transform into vertebral column.
Group acraniata is divided into two sub phylum
Urochordata (notochord in the tail)
Sub-phylum cepalochordata (notochord from head to tail)
SUB-PHYLUM UROCHORDATA (Tunicata)
Urochordates have a notochord that extends from just behind the head to the tail
 Urochordata means "tail-cord".
Urochordates are also called tunicate because their body is enclosed in a sac called
tunic or test composed largely of tunicine, similar to cellulose.
They are all marine and sessile.
RESPIRATION
They have two to seven pairs of gill slits. Respiration through test and gill slits.
EXCRETION
Tunicates lack the kidney-like metanephridial organs. They have neural gland,
pyloric gland and nephrocytes.
COELOM
The original coelom body-cavity develops into a pericardial cavity and gonads.
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Most tunicates feed by filtering sea water through pharyngeal slits. Tunicates are
suspension feeders. They have two openings in their body cavity, an in-current and
an ex-current siphon. The in-current siphon is used to intake food and water, and the
ex-current siphon expels waste and water.
The tunicate's primary food source is plankton. Plankton gets entangled in the
mucus secreted from the endostyle. The tunicate's pharynx is covered by miniature
hairs called ciliate cells which allow the consumed plankton to pass down through
to the esophagus. Their gut is U-shaped, and their anuses empty directly to the
outside environment.
They have complete digestive
REPRODUCTION
Most tunicates are hermaphrodites.
Tunicates begin life in a mobile larval stage that resembles a
tadpole, and exhibit chordates characters. It contains a
nerve cord and a short notochord in its tail only .
As the larva reaches maturity it attaches to the sea bottom
and undergoes retrogressive metamorphosis by losing its
tail and most of the chordate characters, only gill slits
persist.
Later, it develops into a barrel-like and usually sedentary
adult form.
Like other chordates, tunicates have a notochord during their
early development, but lack myomeric segmentation throughout
the body
and tail as adults.
Blood vascular system
Blood vascular system is of open type. Heart is simple, ventral
andtubular. Tunicate blood contains high concentrations of the
metal vanadium,vanadium-associated proteins as well as
lithium.
SUB-PHYLUM CEPHALOCHORDATA
Cephalochordates are small, eel-like animals that spend much of their
time buried in sand.
They have notochord and nerve cord extends from head up to the tail,
and persists throughout life.
Cephalochordates have all the typical chordate features.
The musculature of the body is divided up into V-shaped
blocks, or myomeres.
post-anal tail.
On the other hand, cephalochordates lack features found in
most or all true vertebrates, small brain and poorly developed
sense organs and no
true vertebrae.
Digestive tract is complete. Pharynx is large perforated by numerous
gill slits.
They are filter feeder.
A pouch or hepatic caecum secretes digestive enzymes, and actual
digestion takes place in a specialized part of the intestine known as the
iliocolonic ring.
RESPIRATION
Respiration through the general body surface. No special organ for respiration.

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
Cephalochordates also have a well-developed circulatory system.

EXCRETORY SYSTEM
Simple excretory system composed of paired nephridia.

REPRDUCTION
Reproduction is sexual.
The sexes are separate, and both males and females have multiple paired gonads. Eggs are
fertilized externally, and develop into free-swimming, fishlike larvae. No asexual reproduction.
Development is indirect.
 The organisms belonging to the Protochordata are generally known as the lower chordates. They
don’t form a “proper” taxonomic group and are only classified as such for convenience purposes.
However, they do form a major group of Chordata. They are also known as Acraniata because they
lack a true skull. They are divided into two subphyla- Urochordata, Cephalochordata.
Introduction
Protochordates are an informal category of animals (i.e.: not
a proper taxonomic group), named mainly for convenience to
describe invertebrate animals that are closely related to
vertebrates.
This group is composed of the Phylum Hemichordata and two
Subphyla
1. Urochordata e.g Tunicates
2. Cephalochordata e.g Amphioxus
Notochord
Hemichordata
• Acorn worm--marine substrate dwelling individuals
• Colonial tube creatures with tentacular crowns
• Connections to the other deuterostomes
• Have some chordate features
• Larval stage is the dipleurula larval stage which is very similar to the
bipinnaria larval stage of the echinoderm
Attributes of chordates
• Dorsal hollow nerve cord
• Notochord
• Bilateral symmetry
• Pharyngeal gill slits
• Post-anal tail
• Ventral circulatory system
• Many characteristics of chordates can only be seen in the embryonic
stages. What are the characteristics of this Phylum?

• Chordates are subdivided into three subphyla. The subphylum

Urochordata consists of the tunicates and related animals. Look at the
adult tunicate and you will see very little in the way of Chordate
characteristics. This is because the adults have become sessile filter
feeders. The pharyngeal gill slits form a large filtering basket and the
endostyle (thyroid precursor) produces mucus to trap small particles. If
you look at the tadpole larval stage instead of the adult, you will see many
more characteristics of the Chordates.

• Subphylum Cephalochordata is represented by the little sand lance,

Branchiostoma. This marine animal looks very fish-like with fins, a tail,
muscle blocks called myomeres and pharyngeal gill slits for filter feeding.
Study their anatomy and note their chordate characteristics. The larva
looks like a miniature adult without gonads. This is the one group that
retains the Chordate characteristics throughout its life.
• Protochordates are an informal category of animals (i.e.: not a proper
taxonomic group), named mainly for convenience to describe invertebrate
animals that are closely related to vertebrates. This group is composed of the
Phylum Hemichordata and the
Subphyla Urochordata and Cephalochordata.

• The Phylum Hemichordata consists of marine worms that share some, but
not all of the characteristics of chordates. These animals have pharyngeal gill
slits and a dorsal nerve cord, which is usually solid. The three body parts are
proboscis, collar and trunk. What was once thought to be a notochord is no
longer considered homologous. Acorn worms are examples of hemichordates.

• The Urochordates and Cephalochordates are protochordates, but belong

to the Phylum Chordata. Therefore, these animals will be discussed in the
chordate section.
• What are Protochordates with example?
• The subphyla Urochordata and Cephalochordata are
collectively referred to as Protochordates. Examples are
Amphioxus (Cephalochordata), Ascidia (Urochordata), etc.
• Characteristics of Protochordata
• They are generally found in marine water.
• Their body is bilaterally symmetrical, triploblastic, and
coelomated.
• At a certain stage of their lives, their body develops a long, rod-
like structure for support called the notochord.
• They exhibit organ system level of organization.
Cephalochordata
Cephalochordates
Anatomical features of Amphioxus
• A notochord is a cartilaginous skeletal rod present at
embryonic stages of chordates or in certain adult
invertebrate chordates. Whereas, a vertebral column is
present in higher chordates, which protects the spinal
cord. In vertebrates, the notochord is replaced by the
vertebral column in the adult.