Notes:Poecil{{{ostomatoida)
Phoronids are small, inconspicous worms that live in burrows on sand or mud and feed with a specialized ciliated structure-- the lophophore.

Phoronids produce several distinct larval forms that appear briefly in the plankton before settling to the bottom. Phoronid larvae are seldom encountered in the nearshore plankton.

The specimen shown here is almost surely an actinotroch larval stage of a phoronid, although this identificatiom requires verification by an expert on this group, if we can find one. One diagnostic characteristic is the group of tentatles arising below the 'head' (the upper left of this photo). Absence of segmentation and setae rules out polychaetes.

Collected and photographed by: Bill Johnson, Goucher College.