''Chlidonophora incerta'' is a species of

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

in the family

Chlidonophoridae Chlidonophoridae is a family of brachiopods belonging to the order Terebratulida. Existence Fossils of Chlidonophoridae have been discovered as early as 191-183 MYA in the Jurassic period. her has a total of 52 species out of which 25 are extan ...

Disputes

''Chlidonophora incerta'' was discovered by Davidson in 1878 and he classified it in the genus '' Megerlia.'' Other taxonomists categorized it under the genus '' Terebratulina.'' Later it was reclassified into the genus ''

Chlidonophora ''Chlidonophora'' is a genus of marine animals in the phylum ''Brachiopoda'' belonging to the family ''Chlidonophoridae''. The species of this genus are found in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, eastern coast of the British Isles, western coas ...

'' which is currently accepted.

Existence

''Chlidonophora incerta'' is extant to the present day but its complete fossil range is unknown. There have been a total of 125 occurrences of the species, mainly in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

Caribbean sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and the North

Atlantic ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

off the east coast of Europe. There are 2 synonymous names, ''Megerlia incerta'' and ''Terebratulina incerta'' both of which are unaccepted.

Description

Characteristics

''Chlidonophora incerta'' lives in the deep waters of the

in the

Benthic zone The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

. It is blind like all other species of

Rhynchonellata The Rhynchonellata is a class of Lower Cambrian to Recent articulate brachiopods that combines orders from within the Rhynchonelliformea (Articulata revised) with well developed pedicle attachment. Shell forms vary from those with wide hinge li ...

. It is stationary and attached to a surface like all other ''brachiopods''. It is a

filter feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

and its diet consists of suspended food particles in the water like

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. Ph ...

. It has a taphonomy of low mg

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

like all other brachiopods. It is also

gonochoric In biology, gonochorism is a sexual system where there are only two sexes and each individual organism is either male or female. The term gonochorism is usually applied in animal species, the vast majority of which are gonochoric. Gonochorism c ...

, i.e. there are 2

genders Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

male Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

and

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

and an organism is only one gender throughout its lifetime like in

humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

Life cycle

Firstly, the mother sheds the eggs into the water. The eggs are

fertilized Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...

during the time of

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

. They hatch into free-swimming

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

that

metamorphose Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some insec ...

into adults which are stationary and cannot move freely.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2038089 Animals described in 1878 Brachiopods Fauna of the Atlantic Ocean