Chordates – Animals with backbones
Chordata is one of the better-known phyla in the animal kingdom, as it includes humans! This diverse group of animals share the following common traits:
- nerve chord;
- notochord (supporting structure);
- gill slits; and
- tail.
These features may not always be obvious, but they do appear at some stage in the animal’s development.
The majority of chordates are vertebrates (sub phylum Vertebrata), which means they have a backbone. However, there are some groups within the phylum that do not have backbones, including the sub phyla Urochordata (or Tunicata) and Cephalochordata.
In This Section
- Chordates – Animals with backbones
- Invertebrates – Animals without backbones
- Abalone
- Acorn barnacle
- Baler shell
- Blue button sea jelly
- Bluebottle
- Bryozoan
- Bubbler crabs and sand balls
- Chiton
- Cone shell
- Coral
- Cowry shell
- Crab
- Cuttlebone
- Goose barnacle
- Hermit crabs
- Horned ghost crab (Manburr)
- Limpet
- Mud crab
- Mussel
- Periwinkle
- Pipi
- Ram’s horn shell
- Razor clam
- Sand dollars
- Scallop
- Sea hare
- Sea hares
- Sea jelly
- Sea star
- Sea urchin
- Silver-lip pearl oyster
- Sponge
- Tube worm
- Turban snail
- Violet snail
- Marine Pests
- Seagrasses and Algae
- Unusual Finds