There are many different invertebrates living in the tide pools on Maui's shores, but most are classified under nine phyla. Porifera refers to sponges. Cnidarians are jellyfish and corals. Platyhelminthes are flatworms. Nemotoda refers to roundworms. Mollusks are shelled animals like snails and bivalves. Annelids are segmented worms. Arthropods have jointed limbs, like crabs. Echinoderm (meaning spiny skin) refers to star fish and sea urchins. Chordata refers to fish.
For a recent lab in science class, it was our job to go to some tide pools and see how many of these types of invertebrates we could find. We wanted to know which phyla were most diverse and abundant. I expected Arthropods to be the most diverse and Mollusks to be the most abundant. It turns out, that Mollusks overwhelmed all other phyla in both areas.
I thought learning about these animals was the best part of the lab. I found that many of the phyla and species we learned about I had never seen. I still haven't seen many of them.
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