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Cystoidea (Cystoids)

      The Cystoidea or cystoids, are extinct echinoderms that lived attached to the sea floor by stalks, and are distinguished from other echinoderms by triangular pore openings. Superficially, the cystoids resembled crinoids, but they had an ovoid, rather than cup-shaped, body. The mouth was at the upper pole of the body, with the opposite end attached to the substratum, often by a stalk, although some stalkless species did exist. The anus lay on the side of the body. Five, or less commonly three, ambulacral areas ran along the outside of the body, radiating outwards from the mouth. A number of small tentacles either surrounded the mouth, or projected outwards in a row from the ambulacral areas, depending on species. The most distinctive feature of cystoids was the presence of a number of pores in the rigid skeleton encasing the body. These were most likely respiratory in nature, allowing fluid to flow in or out of the body. In some species, the pores were clustered in distinct regions, but in others they were distributed quite widely over the body surface.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystoids
cystoidea
Img. 82:
Craterina bohemica XB810
Craterina bohemica RP120
Craterina bohemica XB809
Craterina bohemica XB806
Craterina bohemica XB800
Cystidea obscoudita XB790
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 MŠ1879
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 OZ246
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 BL101
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 OZ227
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 BL88
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 BL102
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 BL103
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 BL105
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 BL106
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 JP302
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 MŠ1872
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 MŠ1878
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 MŠ2704
Cystoidea Buch, 1846 MŠ1875

Virtual museum of the Czech Geological Survey, www.geology.cz, (C) Czech Geological Survey, 2011, v.0.99 [13.12.2011]