I belong to Phylum Cnidaria (Coelenterata) (e.g., Hydra, Jellyfish).

My name is Starfish (Asterias). I belong to Phylum Echinodermata.

I am Ascaris (Roundworm). I am included in Phylum Aschelminthes.

I am a Sponge (e.g., Sycon, Euspongia). My phylum is Porifera.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Sub-kingdom: Non-chordata | Phylum: Porifera

Characters:

• Sedentary, aquatic, marine animal with cellular-grade body organization and asymmetrical symmetry.
• Body contains numerous porous water-inlet openings called ostia and a single large exit opening called the osculum.
• Internal skeleton is made of spongin fibres, giving it high water-absorbing capacity.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Sub-kingdom: Non-chordata | Phylum: Arthropoda | Class: Insecta

Characters:

• Body is triploblastic, bilaterally symmetrical, segmented, and eucoelomate with organ-system grade organization.
• Possesses jointed appendages: 3 pairs of walking legs and 2 pairs of wings.
• Exoskeleton is made of chitin; respires through tracheal spiracles.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Chordata | Sub-phylum: Vertebrata | Class: Pisces

Characters:

• Cold-blooded (poikilothermic) freshwater bony fish with a streamlined spindle-shaped body.
• Respires through filamentous gills protected by an operculum.
• Locomotion using paired pectoral/pelvic fins and a muscular tail fin for steering. Exoskeleton consists of dermal scales.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Chordata | Sub-phylum: Vertebrata | Class: Aves

Characters:

• Warm-blooded (homeothermic), flightless seabird native to cold Antarctic regions.
• Forelimbs are modified into flippers for powerful swimming in water; body covered with insulating waterproof feathers.
• Spindle-shaped body and heavy bones help in deep underwater diving.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Chordata | Sub-phylum: Vertebrata | Class: Amphibia

Characters:

• True amphibian living both on land and in freshwater; cold-blooded animal.
• Skin is soft, moist, and scaleless; respires through skin in water (cutaneous) and lungs on land (pulmonary).
• Possesses long, muscular webbed hind legs for jumping on land and swimming in water.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Chordata | Sub-phylum: Vertebrata | Class: Reptilia

Characters:

• Cold-blooded, terrestrial crawling vertebrate with dry, scaly skin.
• Digits have adhesive pads and claws enabling climbing on vertical walls and ceilings.
• Shows capacity for autotomy (shedding its tail) and regeneration.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Chordata | Sub-phylum: Vertebrata | Class: Mammalia

Characters:

• Warm-blooded, viviparous terrestrial herbivore with high intelligence.
• Possesses mammary glands to nurse calves with milk.
• Characterized by a long muscular prehensile trunk (modified nose and upper lip) and ivory tusks.

Classification: Kingdom: Animalia | Sub-kingdom: Non-chordata | Phylum: Cnidaria

Characters:

• Free-swimming marine coelenterate with an umbrella-shaped, gelatinous medusa body.
• Possesses radial symmetry and tissue-grade diploblastic organization.
• Tentacles bear stinging cells (cnidoblasts) containing hypnotic toxins to capture prey and defend against predators.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata (Craniata)
Class: Pisces (Subclass: Chondrichthyes / Cartilaginous fish)
Example: Dogfish Shark (Scoliodon sorrakowah)

1. Exclusively marine animals with hard, spiny skin supported by calcareous plates and spines.
2. Adults exhibit pentamerous radial symmetry, while their free-swimming larvae show bilateral symmetry.
3. Possess a unique water vascular (ambulacral) system with tube-feet used for locomotion and capturing food.
4. Remarkable power of regeneration to restore broken or lost arms. (Examples: Starfish, Sea urchin, Sea cucumber).

Cockroach belongs to Phylum Arthropoda (Class: Insecta) due to the following scientific reasons:

1. It possesses jointed appendages (three pairs of walking legs on the thorax).
2. The body is segmented, triploblastic, bilaterally symmetrical, and coelomate.
3. The body is encased in a protective waterproof chitinous exoskeleton.
4. Respiration is carried out by a dedicated network of tracheal tubes and spiracles.

1. True amphibians (like frogs) have moist, scaleless skin and can breathe dissolved oxygen through their skin while in water (cutaneous respiration).
2. Tortoise has a hard protective exoskeleton of bony carapace and scales and respires strictly through lungs. When in water, it must surface to inhale atmospheric air.
3. Tortoise is poikilothermic, creeps on land, and lays hard-shelled eggs on dry soil. Hence, it is scientifically classified in Class Reptilia, not Amphibia.

1. Tentacles of jellyfish bear thousands of microscopic specialized stinging cells called cnidoblasts (nematocysts).
2. Upon physical contact, these cnidoblasts fire tiny barbed harpoons that inject venomous toxins into the skin.
3. This chemical toxin causes immediate burning sensation, swelling, itching, and red rashes on human skin.

1. All chordates possess a supporting rod called a notochord during some period of life.
2. In subphylum Vertebrata, the embryonic notochord is replaced in adults by a bony or cartilaginous vertebral column (backbone). Thus, every vertebrate is fundamentally a chordate.
3. However, in protochordates (Urochordata like Herdmania and Cephalochordata like Amphioxus), the notochord is never replaced by a vertebral column. Therefore, they remain chordates without being vertebrates.

1. Balanoglossus (an acorn worm of Hemichordata) possesses pharyngeal gill slits and a stomochord (notochord-like structure), which are typical chordate characters.
2. Simultaneously, its worm-like body, non-ganglionated nerve cord, and tornaria larva closely resemble non-chordate echinoderms.
3. Because it exhibits morphological features bridging non-chordates and chordates, it is considered an evolutionary connecting link.

1. Reptiles are cold-blooded (poikilothermic) animals lacking internal metabolic mechanisms to regulate body temperature.
2. Their internal body temperature rises or falls according to ambient environmental temperatures, requiring them to bask in the sun to warm up or seek shade to cool down.

1. Collar cells (Choanocytes). Flagellated collar cells line the spongocoel, creating water currents to filter food particles.

3. Earthworm. Earthworms can be divided into identical mirror halves through only one vertical longitudinal plane.

4. Starfish. Echinoderms possess extraordinary regenerative capability and can regrow severed arms.

4. Mammalia. Bats give birth to live pups and possess milk-producing mammary glands.