Species Profile
Saccoglossus
Acorn worm
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumHemichordata
ClassEnteropneusta
OrderUnknown
FamilyUnknown
Introduction
Saccoglossus is a free-living hemichordate.
It inhabits sandy and muddy coastal regions.
It is important in evolutionary studies.
Size & Structure
01
Small soft cylindrical body
02
Three distinct body regions
03
Pale yellow to brown colour
04
Gill slits present in trunk
Saccoglossus — 3D Model
No 3D model available
General Features
- Coelom
- Enterocoelous coelom
- Body plan
- Tube within a tube body plan (Deuterostomous)
- Germ layer
- Triploblastic
- Metamerism
- Absent (proboscis, collar, trunk present)
- Body symmetry
- Bilateral symmetry
- Fertilization
- External
- Digestion type
- Complete (extracellular digestion)
- Nervous system
- Diffuse nerve net with dorsal nerve cord
- Excretory organ
- Proboscis gland with glomerulus
- Body temperature
- Poikilothermic, euryhaline
- Circulatory type
- Present, open circulation, single
- Development type
- Indirect (tornaria larva)
- Respiratory type
- Gill slits and diffusion
- Mode of excretion
- Ammonotelism
- Circulation system
- Open
- Skeleton structure
- Absent
- Level of Organisation
- Organ level
- Regulation of Osmosis
- Osmoconformer
Ecology
Aerates marine sediments
Feeds on organic matter
Contributes to nutrient cycling
Economic Importance
Used in evolutionary research
Helps study origin of chordates
Environmental indicator species