Topics:
Kemp Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys kempii)
Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)
West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus)
The Chordata, a phylum of animals, is mostly vertabraes (animals with backbones) but this phylum also includes marine animals who are invertabraes (animals without backbones). Characteristics unique to the Chordates include: the notochord, a tubular nerve cord (spinal cord), as well as gill slits leading to the anterior part of the digestive tract. Chordates also all have blood in tunicates, vessels, as well as the vertabraes having a ventrally located heart.