query: parent_taxon anasca
supports: A zooid or zoöid is a single animal that is part of a colonial animal. Zooids are multicellular; their structure is similar to that of other solitary animals. The zooids can either be directly connected by tissue (e.g. corals, Catenulida, Siphonophorae, Pyrosome or Ectoprocta) or share a common exoskeleton (e.g. Bryozoa or Pterobranchia). The colonial organism as a whole is called a "zoon" , plural "zoa" (from Greek "zòon"  meaning animal; plural "zòa", ). Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. Pterobranchia is a clade of small worm-shaped animals. They belong to the Hemichordata, and live in secreted tubes on the ocean floor. Pterobranchia feed by filtering plankton out of the water with the help of cilia attached to tentacles. There are about 30 known living species in the group. Gymnolaemata are a class of Bryozoans. Gymnolaemata are sessile, mostly marine organisms and grow on the surfaces of rocks, kelp, and in some cases on animals, like fish. Zooids are cylindrical or flattened. The lophophore is protruded by action of muscles pulling on the frontal wall. This order includes the majority of living bryozoan species. The Siphonophorae or Siphonophora, the siphonophores, are an order of the Hydrozoa, a class of marine animals belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. Although a siphonophore appears to be a single organism, each specimen is actually a colony composed of highly specialised individual animals called zooids. Most colonies are long, thin, transparent pelagic floaters. Some siphonophores superficially resemble jellyfish, one example being the venomous Portuguese man o' war ("Physalia physalis"). Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals), are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia. Most marine species live in tropical waters, but a few occur in oceanic trenches, and others are found in polar waters. One class lives only in a variety of freshwater environments, and a few members of a mostly marine class prefer brackish water. Over 4,000 living species are known. One genus is solitary and the rest are colonial. Anasca was a bryozoan sub-order under class Cheilostomida defined by the lack of an ascus in each zooid . It is no longer an accepted taxonomic grouping as it is considered a polyphyletic and / or paraphyletic grouping . The group is now subdivided into the suborders Inovicellata , Scrupariina , Malacostega , and Flustrina . Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia (also called Metazoa). The animal kingdom emerged as a basal clade within Apoikozoa as a sister of the choanoflagellates. Sponges are the most basal clade of animals. Animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently at some point in their lives. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs: they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance. The polypide in bryozoans encompasses most of the organs and tissues of each individual zooid. This includes the tentacles, tentacle sheath, U-shaped digestive tract, musculature and nerve cells. It is housed in the zooidal exoskeleton, which in cyclostomes is tubular and in cheilostomes is box-shaped. Scrupariina is a sub-order under order Cheilostomata. The structure of the individual zooids is generally simple, with an uncalcified, flexible frontal wall. The lophophore is a characteristic feeding organ possessed by four major groups of animals: the Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Hyolitha, and Phoronida, which collectively constitute the Lophophorata. All lophophores are found in aquatic organisms. Flustrina is a suborder under the order Cheilostomata of gymnolaematan Bryozoa (sea mats). The structure of the individual zooids is generally simple, a box-like chamber of calcium carbonate, the polypides reaching out through an uncalcified flexible frontal wall, often surrounded by numerous spines. Like in other gymnolaematans, their lophophore is protruded by muscles that pull on the frontal wall of the zooid. Cheilostomata (accepted name Cheilostomatida), an order of Bryozoa in the class Gymnolaemata, are exclusively marine, colonial invertebrate animals. Cheilostome colonies are composed of calcium carbonate and grow on a variety of surfaces, including rocks, shells, seagrass and kelps. The colony shapes range from simple encrusting sheets to erect branching and even unattached forms. As in other bryozoan groups, each colony is composed of a few to thousands of individual polypides, which has a U-shaped gut, and no respiratory, circulatory, or nerve system. Unique among bryozoans, cheilostome polypides are housed in a box-shaped zooids, which do not grow larger once the zooid is mature. The opening of through which the polypide protrudes is protected by a calcareous or chitinous lidlike structure, an operculum. Cheilostomes possess avicularia, which have modified the operculum into a range of mandibles (possibly for defense) or hair-like setae (possibly for cleaning).
candidates: animal anthozoa box brachiopoda bryozoa catenulida cheilostomata cnidaria gymnolaemata hydrozoa lophophore metazoa moss physalia physalis pterobranchia pyrosome siphonophora
answer: cheilostomata