1. A group of marine animals characterized by a lophophore, a horseshoe-shaped or circular feeding structure with tentacles; includes brachiopods, bryozoans, and phoronids.
Usage: technical; zoology; plural form; singular is lophophorate

Examples

• Lophophorates are filter feeders that use their distinctive tentacle-bearing structures to capture food particles from seawater.
• The three main groups of lophophorates—brachiopods, bryozoans, and phoronids—share the characteristic lophophore.
• Scientists study lophophorates to understand the evolutionary relationships among early marine organisms.
• Fossil records of lophophorates provide important evidence about ancient ocean ecosystems.