Invertebrates represent 97% of species diversity, and as such offer near limitless possibilities for Scanning Electron Microcopy analysis. Of the 36 extant (living) phyla of animal life, 35 are composed entirely of invertebrates. Within the 35 phyla mentioned, much of the diversity is contained within eight major groups: Porifera (sponges), Cnidaria (jellyfish, coral, sea anemones), Platyhelminthes (flatworms), Nematoda (roundworms), Annelida (segmented worms), Echinoderms (sea stars, urchins, sea cucumbers), Mollusca (shellfish, snails, squid, octopus), and Arthropoda (insects, lobsters, crabs, shrimp, barnacles). This atlas is meant to mirror our Invertebrate Zoology (MS 124) class offered here at Moss Landing Marine Labs, and represent the most numerous and ecologically meaningful of the invertebrate taxa.
