Lophophore

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The lophophore (pronounced /ˈlɒfəfɔər/) is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by three major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, and Phoronida (possibly including the extinct hederelloids). All lophophores are found in aquatic organisms. It can most easily be described as a ring of ciliated tentacles surrounding the mouth, but it is often horseshoe-shaped or coiled. Phoronids have their lophophores in plain view, but the valves of brachiopods must be opened wide to get a good view of their lophophore.

The lophophore surrounds the mouth and is an upstream collecting system for suspension feeding. Its tentacles are hollow with extensions of a coelomic space thought to be a mesocoel. The gut is U-shaped with the anterior mouth at the center of the lophophore. The anus, where present, is also anterior, but is dorsal to the mouth. In bryozoa (ectoprocta) it is outside the ring of the lophophore; in entoprocta the anus is within the ring of the lophophore. Some brachiopods do not have an anus.

Groups with lophophores are called lophophorates. In the old view of metazoan phylogeny, the lophophorates were placed within the deuterostomia. Now they have been reassessed and placed within a new Superphylum known as the Lophotrochozoa (located within the protostomia) which includes the Mollusca and Annelida.