The phylum Brachiopoda, or Lamp Shells, contains about 300 living species and about 12,000 extinct species found in the fossil record. Superficially they resemble bivalve molluscs like the cockle, but their internal basic structure is very different. Brachiopods are suspension feeding, marine, benthic lophophorates in two higher taxa, Inarticulata and Articulata.- Category ID : 417730