| Term | Definition |
|---|
| vertebrate | Animal that has a backbone. |
| invertebrate | Animal that doesn't have a backbone. |
| annelid | Worm with cylindrical, segmented bodies. |
| arthropod | Invertebrate with segmented body and jointed limbs, such as spiders and insects. |
| cnidarian | Aquatic animal that has a saclike body with stinging tentacles. |
| echinoderm | Aquatic animal, such as sea urchin or starfish, which have spiny skin. |
| mollusk | Aquatic animal that has a soft body surrounded by a hard outer shell. |
| radial symmetry | A body plan in which the organs and tissues are arranged in a circle around a central axis. |
| bilateral symmetry | A body plan in which two halves of the body are mirror images of one another. |
| blastula | The early stage of an embryo that is composed of a hollow ball of cells. |
| protostome | A bilaterally symmetrical invertebrate whose blastophore forms into a mouth. |
| blastophore | Opening of the blastula. |
| deuterostome | A bilaterally symmetrical invertebrate whose blastophore forms into an anus. |
| collar cells | Specialized cells that push water through sponges and pull food from the water. |
| osculum | An opening in the top of the sponge through which water exits |
| cnidocyte | Stinging cell that lines cnidarian tentacles. |
| nematocysts | Poison-filled structures in the tentacles of cnidarians. |
| medusa | The umbrella-shaped form of the cnidarian that can float freely in the water. |
| polyp | A cylinder-shaped cnidarian that attaches to objects on the ocean bottom and remains sedentary. |
| tripoblastic | Organisms that emerge from three cell layers. |
| coelom | A fluid-filled cavity that forms between the tissues. |
| acoelomates | Animals that lack a coelom. |
| hermaphrodite | An animal that has both male and female reproductive organs. |
| septum | A wall that divides the segments of a worm |
| trochophore | The larval stage of the mollusk. |
| radula | A rough, tongue-like organ in mollusks that is used for eating food. |
| mantle | A layer of tissue surrounding the mollusk's body that produces the shell. |
| visceral mass | A layer underneath the mantle which contains the mollusk's internal organs |
| exoskeleton | The hard material on the outside of invertebrates, used for protection and support |
| chitin | A polysaccharide component of the arthropod exoskeleton |
| molting | The process of shedding of the outer skin as the animal grows |
| tracheal tube | Tube that runs through an arthropod body and enables breathing |
| Malpighian tube | Tube that collects wastes from the arthropod's body for removal. |
| pupa | The stage at which an insect transforms into its adult form |
| decapods | Group of crustaceans that have ten (five pairs) feet. |
| chelipeds | Specialized legs used for catching prey. |
| carapace | A hard protective coating on the back of an animal. |
| thorax | The middle part of the body in an arthropod between the head and abdomen. |
| swimmerets | Appendages used for swimming. |
| arachnid | Arthropod that breathes air and has four pairs of legs. |
| chelicerae | Fang-like appendages near the mouth of an arachnid used to inject the prey with a paralyzing venom. |
| chelicerate | An animal that has chelicerae. |
| spinnerets | Organs in the spider that contain silk glands. |
| pedipalps | Appendages near the mouths of ticks, spiders, and other arachnids used to latch onto prey. |
| myriapod | Any arthropod that has an elongated body composed of many segments, such as the centipede and millipede. |
| endoskeleton | An internal skeleton |
| madreporite | A structure in the echinoderm through which water enters the vascular system. |
| ampulla | Bulb-like sacs in the echinoderm vascular system that are contracted to push the water through the canals into the foot. |
| schistosomiasis | A disease caused by the parasitic schistosome flatworm. |
| trichinosis | A disease caused by the parasitic roundworm Trichinella, which lives in meat. |
| malaria | A disease caused by microscopic parasites and transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito. |
| Lyme disease | A disease caused by bacteria transmitted by the bite of a deer tick that causes muscle and joint aches. |
| invasive species | Animals that are relocated from their native ecosystem to other parts of the world. |
| trilobite | A now extinct class of arthropod. |
| cephalization | The concentration of sense organs in the front of an animal's body. |
| ganglia | In some invertebrates, a structure made up of nerve cells; in mammals, a group of nerve cell bodies. |
| spiracles | Small openings through which air enters and exits the body of arthropods. |
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