Welcome to the introduction to the Animal Kingdom. I will teach you today about the major phyla of the animal kingdom.

First we will go to the simplest animal phylum – Porifera, the sponge phylum. Spongers are not very complex. They have no nervous, digestive, or circulatory systems. They spend their days filtering water in and out of their bodies, collecting food particles. There are a few sponges that are carnivorous and eat other animals. They live in places where food particles aren’t available. Not much is known on how they capture their prey but it’s thought that some use sticky threads or hooked spicules to catch them.  They live in deep water up to 5 miles deep.

Sponges can reproduce asexually and sexually. For asexual reproduction, they use budding where a new organism grows from an outgrowth of the sponge. The bud gets mature and breaks off eventually to become a new organism. For sexual reproduction, sponges are hermaphrodites. They produce both eggs and sperms which get released into the water.
https://40.media.tumblr.com/35f3208eacd36eda4e1c0953e18bdc47/tumblr_mhq0lqMwSp1rxyvj1o1_400.jpg
https://weed-science-classes.wikispaces.com/file/view/tube_sponges.jpg/305920060/307x247/tube_sponges.jpg

Next we move up to Cnidaria, the jellyfish and coral phylum. They have nervous system and muscles that distinguishes them from sponges.  The main feature of them are cnidocytes that are used for capturing prey aka what you feel when you get stung by a jellyfish. The group still has no respiration system.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Nematocyst-discharged.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Chrysaora_Colorata.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/1/7/1231296880873/A-coral-seen-off-Jarvis-I-002.jpg

Next we are going to move onto the Annelida phylum, known as the ringed worms. This includes earthworms and leeches, eek. They have segmented bodies, nervous system, and a respiration system.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Sucking_leech.jpg
http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Earthworm1.jpg

Now onto Mollusca phylum! This includes squids, clams, and snails. They are most noted for having a mantle which protects them.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Grapevinesnail_01.jpg
http://www.ryanphotographic.com/images/JPEGS/Squid%20from%20kaikoura%20montage%20copy.jpg

Now onto the biggest phylum - Arthropoda. They have exoskeletons, segmented bodies, and jointed appendages. This phylum includes crustaceans (shrimp, barnacles, lobster), insects (flies, bees), arachnids (spiders, scorpions), and centipedes and millipedes.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/14/xin_1920905141027703000221.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Female_Emperor_Scorpion.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Viceroy_Butterfly.jpg
http://www.epestsupply.com/images/bugs/centipede300.jpg

Now onto the phylum that everyone cares about, Chordata! These animals have a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve cord, pharyngeal slits, and endostyle, and a post-anal tail. This includes just about every common animal not covered such as fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals.