Sea Cucumber
(Holothuroidea)
![Picture](/uploads/8/9/6/7/89677435/editor/img-1898.jpg?1483461964)
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms- a marine invertebrate. Every species of sea cucumber lives in the ocean, but some live in the deep while some live in the shallows. They live on near the ocean floor- sometimes buried beneath it.
Sea cucumbers eat algae, minute aquatic animals, or waste materials. They gather their food using 8-30 long tubes surrounding their mouth. They break down these particles into even smaller particles which become food for bacteria, and thus the sea cucumbers recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem. This process is similar to the functions that Earthworms perform.
When threatened, some sea cucumbers emit sticky threads to trap their enemies. Others can mutilate their bodies. They contract their muscles and release some of their internal organs out of their bodies. The body parts they loose are quickly regenerated.
Sea cucumbers are prey for fish and other marine animals. Humans also enjoy them, and some species are farmed as delicacies.
(Picture from http://www.coral.org/files/images/IMG_1898.jpg)
Sea cucumbers eat algae, minute aquatic animals, or waste materials. They gather their food using 8-30 long tubes surrounding their mouth. They break down these particles into even smaller particles which become food for bacteria, and thus the sea cucumbers recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem. This process is similar to the functions that Earthworms perform.
When threatened, some sea cucumbers emit sticky threads to trap their enemies. Others can mutilate their bodies. They contract their muscles and release some of their internal organs out of their bodies. The body parts they loose are quickly regenerated.
Sea cucumbers are prey for fish and other marine animals. Humans also enjoy them, and some species are farmed as delicacies.
(Picture from http://www.coral.org/files/images/IMG_1898.jpg)
Christmas Tree Worm
(Spirobranchus Giganteus)
![Picture](/uploads/8/9/6/7/89677435/published/christmas-tree-worms.jpg?1483490938)
Christmas tree worms are tree shaped, tube-dwelling worms with magnificent twin spirals of plumes used for feeding and respiration. They come in many colors including orange, yellow, blue, and white. Though the plums are visible, most of these worms are anchored in burrows. Christmas tree worms are very sensitive to disturbances and will retract into their burrows at the slightest touch or passing shadow.
Christmas tree worms use their plumes to catch floating phytoplankton and waste. They can then turn these into something other animals could use in the ecyosystem. They sort their food particles and the large ones are discarded back into the envrionment.
Christmas tree worms are found on coral reefs in tropical waters worldwide.
(Picture from http://www.susanscott.net/ow/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Christmas_tree_worms.jpg)
Christmas tree worms use their plumes to catch floating phytoplankton and waste. They can then turn these into something other animals could use in the ecyosystem. They sort their food particles and the large ones are discarded back into the envrionment.
Christmas tree worms are found on coral reefs in tropical waters worldwide.
(Picture from http://www.susanscott.net/ow/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Christmas_tree_worms.jpg)
Marine Bacteria
(Bacillus)
![Picture](/uploads/8/9/6/7/89677435/published/bacteria3.jpg?1483493061)
Bacteria are a type of microbe so small they can only be seen with a microscope. Microbes are diverse and include organisms from the three domains of life-Prokaryotes, Archaea, and Eukaryotes.
Bacteria are very numerous and are found almost anywhere someone could imagine.
Bacteria are microscopic, unicellular organisms that serve as decomposers by breaking down dead organisms and organic waste and recycling it back into the environment. For example, as zooplankton feed on phytoplankton, they create waste, through feeding and excreation. Bacteria break down this waste into nutrients which other organisms can use.
(Picture from https://20masterlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/bacteria3.jpg)
Bacteria are very numerous and are found almost anywhere someone could imagine.
Bacteria are microscopic, unicellular organisms that serve as decomposers by breaking down dead organisms and organic waste and recycling it back into the environment. For example, as zooplankton feed on phytoplankton, they create waste, through feeding and excreation. Bacteria break down this waste into nutrients which other organisms can use.
(Picture from https://20masterlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/bacteria3.jpg)
Brittle Sea Star
(Ophiuroidea)
![Picture](/uploads/8/9/6/7/89677435/published/greenbrittlestar.jpg?1483495306)
Brittle sea stars are echinoderms-invertebrates. There are over 1800 species of brittle stars.
Brittle stars range in size from a few millimeters to a few inches. They can be a range of colors and some are even capable of phosphorescence.
Brittle stars have long slender arms, with tube feet on the bottom. Unlike sea stars, however, their tube feet do not have suction cups at the end. They are not used for motion but for eating.
Brittle stars do not have brains, but they do have a large stomach, muscles, and a mouth surrounded by five jaws.
Brittle stars can drop a leg when being attacked. This is called autotomy-or self-amputation. The nerve system tell the tissure near the base of the arm to disintigrate. Once the wound heals, the arm regrows-which can take anywhere from weeks to months.
In order to move, brittle stars move their arms. When they move, one lead arm points the way forward, while their arms on the left and the right coordinate the rest of the star's movement.
Brittle stars feed on dead animals, plankton, and even fish. They are however, decomposers, s0 this food eventually gets broken down and put back out into the ecosystem.
(Picture from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/Greenbrittlestar.jpg)
Brittle stars range in size from a few millimeters to a few inches. They can be a range of colors and some are even capable of phosphorescence.
Brittle stars have long slender arms, with tube feet on the bottom. Unlike sea stars, however, their tube feet do not have suction cups at the end. They are not used for motion but for eating.
Brittle stars do not have brains, but they do have a large stomach, muscles, and a mouth surrounded by five jaws.
Brittle stars can drop a leg when being attacked. This is called autotomy-or self-amputation. The nerve system tell the tissure near the base of the arm to disintigrate. Once the wound heals, the arm regrows-which can take anywhere from weeks to months.
In order to move, brittle stars move their arms. When they move, one lead arm points the way forward, while their arms on the left and the right coordinate the rest of the star's movement.
Brittle stars feed on dead animals, plankton, and even fish. They are however, decomposers, s0 this food eventually gets broken down and put back out into the ecosystem.
(Picture from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/Greenbrittlestar.jpg)
Sea Slug
(Holothuroidea)
![Picture](/uploads/8/9/6/7/89677435/published/sea-slug-chromodoris-strigata-by-danibarchana-d5aeprm.jpg?1483496761)
Dispite the same name and similar shape, sea slugs and sea cucumbers are two different animals.
The sea slug feeds on plankton and decaying matter on the ocean floor, along with grazing on rocks and corals for algae. They decompose this matter and recycle it back into the ecosystem.
Sea slugs are very motionless and therefore fall prey to many things including crabs, lobsters, fish, and even the humans that like to eat them. Some species of slug protect themselves by wrapping their tentacles around the predator. This, of course, only applies to the sea slugs that have tentacles.
There are thousands of species of sea slugs. Sea slugs can range from from just a few millimeters long to more than 30 centimeters in length. They can be found in a variety of colors and shapes.
Sea slugs are found all over the world in both shallow and deep oceans.
The sea slug is a hermaphrodite, meaning it has both female and male reproductive organs.
Sea slugs are harvested for food by humans, and are also used in medicine.
(Picture from http://img07.deviantart.net/50d6/i/2012/220/9/5/sea_slug___chromodoris_strigata_by_danibarchana-d5aeprm.jpg)
The sea slug feeds on plankton and decaying matter on the ocean floor, along with grazing on rocks and corals for algae. They decompose this matter and recycle it back into the ecosystem.
Sea slugs are very motionless and therefore fall prey to many things including crabs, lobsters, fish, and even the humans that like to eat them. Some species of slug protect themselves by wrapping their tentacles around the predator. This, of course, only applies to the sea slugs that have tentacles.
There are thousands of species of sea slugs. Sea slugs can range from from just a few millimeters long to more than 30 centimeters in length. They can be found in a variety of colors and shapes.
Sea slugs are found all over the world in both shallow and deep oceans.
The sea slug is a hermaphrodite, meaning it has both female and male reproductive organs.
Sea slugs are harvested for food by humans, and are also used in medicine.
(Picture from http://img07.deviantart.net/50d6/i/2012/220/9/5/sea_slug___chromodoris_strigata_by_danibarchana-d5aeprm.jpg)