Ectoprocts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of aquatic invertebrates characterized by a moss-like appearance due to their colonial, exoskeletal structures and a feeding mechanism involving a crown of tentacles used to filter particles from water
2. Aquatic colonial animals usually enclosed in a protective shell, distinguished by a specialized set of tentacles called a lophophore which they use to capture food particles from their environment
3. Small, typically sessile freshwater or marine organisms living in colonies, possessing a crown of ciliated tentacles for food collection and often resembling moss in form due to their exoskeletal enclosures

Etymology: "Ectoprocts" is the plural of "ectoproct," the name for a member of a phylum of tiny colonial animals, most of which live in water. The name comes from the old phylum name Ectoprocta, which is built from Greek roots: "ektos" meaning "outside" and "proktos" meaning "anus." The name refers to the arrangement of the digestive tract, in which the anus opens outside the ring of feeding tentacles, unlike in many related animals where it sits inside that ring. The creatures are often called bryozoans, or moss animals, and each colony is made of many tiny individuals called zooids. Each zooid has a crown of ciliated tentacles, called a lophophore, that sweeps food particles toward its mouth. Ectoprocts are the modern name for the group formerly called Ectoprocta, which is now usually treated as the bryozoan phylum.

Synonyms: bryozoans