Transcript Strange But True Ocean Creatures

Strange but true…
Sea Cucumber
• Echinoderms (like
starfish, sea urchins,
sand dollars)
• Radially symmetrical
• Have a water-vascular
system that functions as
hydraulic muscles
• Eat decaying matter that
floats in the water or is in
the sand
• The biggest sea cucumber, the tiger's tail
sea cucumber, is about 2 m long
Star fish and
Brittle stars
• These marine
invertebrates
move very slowly
along the sea bed.
• There are over
2,000 different
species of brittle
stars
• Brittle stars are mainly detrivores; they eat decaying
matter and plankton.
• Some brittle stars can also kill small animals. They push
their stomach out through their mouth with 5 teeth
(located on the underside) and digest the prey (there is
no anus).
• Sea stars are carnivores. They eat clams, oysters, coral,
fish, and other animals.
Sea horses…and
sea dragons?
• coronet: nearly as unique
as a human thumbprint
• dorsal fin: moves fish
forward
• pectoral fins: control
turning and steering
• eyes: each eye moves
independently
reproduction: male becomes
pregnant when a female
deposits her eggs into his
pouch; pregnancy lasts about
two to three weeks; once the
male gives birth, he usually
becomes pregnant again right
away
diet: consume up to 3,000 brine
shrimp each day; have no
teeth and swallow food whole
species: about 35
size: from 1/4 inch to a foot or
more
range: temperate and tropical
coastal waters
Life is hard for the seahorse!!
• Natural predators, such as crab, tuna, skates,
and rays
• Storms are the biggest natural cause of death
for adult seahorses (tear them from their
holdfasts, to be cast ashore or die of
exhaustion).
• Seahorses are sought after for:
Chinese medicine
Aquariums
Souvenirs
Sea Dragons!
Dragons!
• Close relatives of sea
horses.
• Larger bodies and leaflike appendages (can
hide among floating
seaweed or kelp beds).
• Feed on larval fishes and
amphipods (mysids "sea lice").
Nudibranchs
Nudibranch fun facts:
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Also known as sea slugs
Mollusks
3000 species
Essentially snails without shells
Name means "naked gill"
Benthic organisms (live on the ocean bottom)
Grazing carnivores
Simultaneous hermaphrodites (possess both male and
female sex organs at the same time)
• Very bright colors may be warning to predators that they
are toxic!
Giant swimming nudibranch
Giant Clam
• Mollusk
• Bivalve (2 shells)
• Southern & Western Pacific
and Indian Oceans
Diet: plankton and nutrients
produced by symbiotic algae
• The algae also gives part of
its colour
Sea Anemones
Sea Anemones: look like plants,
but are actually animals!
• Invertebrates (no skeleton)
• Coelenterates
• Live attached to firm objects in the seas (sea
floor, rock, or coral), but they can slide around
very slowly.
• Carnivorous
• Mutualism: Clown fish always live near
anemones; they are immune from (and
protected by) the stinging tentacles. The clown
fish help the anemone by cleaning the tentacles
(as the fish eat detritus) and perhaps by scaring
away predators.
Sponges
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Sessile (can’t move)
Radial or no symmetry.
Suspension feeders.
Drive water through systems of
canals/chambers, capturing small particles
of food and ingesting them.
• No tissues (simplest multicellular animal)
“Strange But True”
In Class Assignment
• Create a chart like the one below on white
paper and complete:
Name of Marine Creature
Sea Cucumber
Star Fish
Brittle Star
Sea Horse
Sea Dragon
Nudibranch
Giant Clam
Sea Anenome
Sponge
2-3 Interesting Facts