Rhabdopleurida
| Rhabdopleurida Temporal range: | |
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| Rhabdopleura normani | |
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| Order: | Rhabdopleurida |
| Family: | Rhabdopleuridae Allman, 1869 |
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Rhabdopleurida is one of three orders in the class Pterobranchia, which are small, worm-shaped animals, and the only surviving graptolites. Members belong to the hemichordates. Species in this order are sessile, colonial, connected with a stolon, living in clear water and secrete tubes called tubarium. They have a single gonad, the gill slits are absent and the collar has two tentaculated arms. Rhabdopleura is the best studied pterobranch in developmental biology.