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  Scientists have named more than a million species of invertebrates.
That’s a lot of animals that have no backbone!
Animals Without Backbones
  Most of the animals on Earth do not have backbones. They are
invertebrates.
Some are too small to be seen with the naked eye.
The largest invertebrates, which are giant squids, can easily stretch
across the width of a basketball court. Some kinds of invertebrates
include mollusks, worms, cnidarians, and arthropods.
Mollusks
  A mollusk has a soft body without bones. This phylum includes
animals such as snails, slugs, clams, and squids. Some
mollusks, like clams, have a hard outer shell that protects them
from being eaten. Some mollusks get oxygen by using gills.
Others are able to absorb oxygen through their skin.
Worms
  Worms belong to many different phyla. Flatworms are flat and very
thin. They live in wet or damp places. Roundworms can live in
water or on land. Segmented worms include the earthworm. Some
kinds of worms are microscopic. Some are huge. One of the largest
earthworms caught was about 7 meters (about 23 feet) long.
  1. List at least 3 different invertebrates. How are
they alike?
 
2.
Compare and Contrast How are worms and clams alike?
How are they different?
  This strange-looking
mollusk is called
a lettuce sea slug.
It lives in tropical
waters and eats
algae.
  This is the head of the lettuce sea slug.