Maine Biota Project

Biota Lists

Click the links below to view the complete list for that group. Regional lists, when available, can also be viewed from these pages.


   Phylum Porifera - sponges
   Phylum Cnidaria - anemones and jellyfish
   Phylum Ctenophora - comb jellies
   Phylum Platyhelminthes - flatworms
   Phylum Nemertea - ribbon-worms
   Phylum Rotifera - rotifers
   Phylum Kinorhyncha - kinorhynchs
   Phylum Priapula - priapulids
   Phylum Entoprocta - goblet-worms
   Phylum Annelida - segmented worms

   PHYLUM ARTHROPODA - Arthropods (arachnids, lobster, crabs, insects)
      CLASS ARACHNIDA - Arachnids (spiders, harvestmen, mites)
         Order Pseudoscorpiionida - book scorpions
         Order Aranae - spiders
         Order Opiliones - harvestmen (“daddy longlegs”)
         Order Acari - ticks
      CLASS MALACOSTRACA - Crustaceans
         Order Decapoda - decapod crustaceans
      CLASS HEXAPODA - Insects
         Order Collembola - springtails
         Order Diplura - diplurans
         Order Zygentoma - silverfish
         Order Ephemeroptera - mayflies
         Order Odonata - damselflies, dragonflies
         Order Orthoptera - grasshoppers, katydids, crickets
         Order Plecoptera - stoneflies
         Order Dermaptera - earwigs
         Order Mantodea - mantids
         Order Blattodea - cockroaches
         Order Hemiptera - bugs, cicadas, aphids, etc.
         Order Thysanoptera - thrips
         Order Psocoptera - psocids
         Order Phthiraptera - lice
         Order Coleoptera - beetles
         Order Neuroptera - neuropterans
         Order Hymenoptera - bees, wasps, ants, etc.
         Order Trichoptera - caddisflies
         Order Lepidoptera - butterflies, skippers
         Order Lepidoptera - moths
         Order Siphonaptera - fleas
         Order Mecoptera - scorpionflies
         Order Strepsiptera - twisted-wing parasites
         Order Diptera - flies, mosquitoes

   Phylum Mollusca - Mollusks (periwinkles, clams)
   Phylum Echinodermata - Echinoderms (sand dollars, sea stars, sea urchins)

   PHYLUM CHORDATA - Chordates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals)
      CLASS PISCES - Fish
         Order Osteichthyes - bony fish
      Class Amphibia - frogs, toads, salamanders
      Class Reptilia - turtles, snakes
      Class Aves - birds
      Class Mammalia - mammals


   Division Ascomycota - ascomycetes
   Division Basidiomycota - basidiomycetes


   lichens


   Division Phaeophyta - brown algae
   Division Rhodophyta - red algae
   Division Chlorophyta - green algae


   Division Marchantiophyta - liverworts
   Division Anthocerophyta - hornworts
   Division Bryophyta - mosses


   Lycophytes - club-mosses
   Monilophytes - ferns, horsetails/scouring rushes
   Gymnosperms - pine, hemlock, juniper, cedar. etc.
   Magnoliids
   Monocots
   Tricolpates





A Brief History of Classification

Living organisms were divided at one time into two kingdoms: Kingdom Animalia (animals) and Kingdom Plantae (plants). Perhaps you used to play the guessing game “Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral”. In the late 1960s came the five-kingdom classification: Kingdoms Monera, Protista (sometimes called Protoctista), Fungi, Animalia, and Plantae (sometimes called Metaphyta). With the advent of molecular biology (which has made it possible to sequence DNA) and computers (which have made previously impossible calculations manageable), we have a better understanding of the evolutionary relationships among organisms. Today, three domains (a grouping above the kingdom level) are now recognized: Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. The first two domains contain the prokaryotes (all formerly in Kingdom Monera). Eukarya, as the name suggests, includes the eukaryotes. All of the biota lists above are eukaryotes and belong in domain Eukarya.





updated 20 September 2020