What are horseshoe worms?
Q: What are horseshoe worms?
A: Horseshoe worms are a small phylum of marine animals with twenty species in two genera. They are part of the Brachiozoa, which also includes the brachiopods.
Q: Why are they called horseshoe worms?
A: They are called horseshoe worms because they have a gut that loops and exits the body near the mouth, giving them a horseshoe-like shape.
Q: Where are phoronids found?
A: Phoronids are found in all oceans and seas, except the polar seas, and all species have wide geographical ranges. They occur at depths up to 400 metres, but mainly between 0 to 70 metres.
Q: What is the lifespan of phoronids?
A: The lifespan of phoronids is thought to be about a year.
Q: How do phoronids live?
A: Phoronids are tube worms and secrete chitinous tubes in which they live. These tubes can be buried in the mud or sand or rest on the surface of a rocky substrate. Some species can dissolve away holes in rocks, such as limestone, calcareous seashells, or even cement piers, and live in these holes which they line with their secreted tubes.
Q: How do phoronids feed?
A: Phoronids feed using a lophophore, a ciliated structure that surrounds the mouth.
Q: What phylum do phoronids belong to?
A: Together with the Bryozoa and Brachiopoda, the phoronids belong to the lophophorates, sometimes treated as a single phylum.
