Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked fo
Stalked crinoid drawn by Ernst Haeckel
Stem, theca and arms of a "true" (stalked) crinoid (family Isselicrinidae)
Oxycomanthus bennetti (comatulid)
Marine invertebrates are invertebrate animals that live in marine habitats, and make up most of the macroscopic life in the oceans. It is a polyphyletic blanket term that contains all marine animals e
Ernst Haeckel's 96th plate, showing some marine invertebrates. Marine invertebrates have a large variety of body plans, which are currently categorised into over 30 phyla.
Dickinsonia may be the earliest animal. They appear in the fossil record 571 million to 541 million years ago.
Kimberella, an early mollusc important for understanding the Cambrian explosion. Invertebrates are grouped into different phyla (body plans).
Bryozoa, from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, 1904