Central nervous system is dorsal, hollow and single
Pharynx perforated by gill slits
Heart is ventral
Post-anal tail is present
Non-chordates
Notochord absent
Central nervous system is ventral, solid and double
Gill slits are absent
Heart is dorsal (if present)
Post-anal tail is absent
Notochord
Solid rod-like structure formed on the dorsal side of the body during embryonic development<|>Notochord is positioned between alimentary canal and nerve cord (dorsal)
Nerve cord
In chordates, nerve cord is dorsal, hollow and single
Gill slits
Pharynx is perforated by paired clefts which bear gills
Phylum Chordata is divided into 3 subphyla
Urochordata or Tunicata
Cephalochordata
Vertebrata
Subphyla referred to as Protochordata
Urochordata
Cephalochordata
Protochordates are exclusively marine
Organ system level, bilateral symmetry, closed circulation, ventral heart, triploblasty, coelomates are characters of chordates
Nerve cord is not ventral, solid and double in chordates
