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An invertebrate is any multicellular animal lacking a backbone. This includes all animal phyla other than Chordata. The major invertebrate phyla include:

  • Sponges - Porifera
  • Coelenterates - Cnidaria
  • Ctenophores - Ctenophora
  • Echinoderms - Echinodermata
  • Flatworms - Platyhelminthes
  • Roundworms - Nematoda
  • Segmented worms - Annelida
  • Mollusks - Mollusca
  • Arthropods - Arthropoda

Invertebrates are tremendously diverse, ranging from microscopic wormlike mezozoans to huge animals such as the giant squid. Approximately 95% of all the earth's animal species are invertebrates; of these, the vast majority are insects and other arthropods. Invertebrates are important as parasites and are essential elements of all ecological communities.

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