LOPHOPHORATES
Three groups of marine invertebratesare linked by the presence of a uniquefeeding structure, the lophophore.Itconsists of a set of ciliated tentaclesarranged in a horseshoe-shaped, circu-lar, or coiled fashion. Lophophoratesare suspension feeders, using their ciliato create feeding currents. They shareother important traits: lack of segmen-tation, bilateral symmetry, a coelomiccavity, and a U-shaped gut.