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Anostraca
Anostraca is one of the four orders of crustaceans in the class Branchiopoda; its members are referred to as fairy shrimp. They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, and they have even been found in deserts, ice-covered mountain lakes and Antarctic ice. They are usually long (exceptionally up to ). Most species have 20 body segments, bearing 11 pairs of leaf-like ''phyllopodia'' (swimming legs), and the body lacks a carapace. They swim "upside-down" and feed by filtering organic particles from the water or by scraping algae from surfaces. They are an important food for many birds and fish, and some are cultured and harvested for use as fish food. There are 300 species spread across 8 families. Description The body of a fairy shrimp is elongated and divided into segments. The whole animal is typically long, but one species, '' Branchinecta gigas'' does not reach sexual maturity until it reaches long, and can grow to long. The exoskeleton is thin and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Branchinecta
''Branchinecta'' is a genus of crustacean in family Branchinectidae. It includes around 50 species, found on all continents except Australia. ''Branchinecta gigas'', the giant fairy shrimp, is the largest species in the order, with a length of up to , and '' Branchinecta brushi'' lives at the highest altitude of any crustacean, at , a record it shares with the copepod '' Boeckella palustris''. A new genus, '' Archaebranchinecta'' was established in 2011 for two species previously placed in ''Branchinecta''. *'' Branchinecta achalensis'' Cesar, 1985 *'' Branchinecta belki'' Maeda-Martínez, Obregón-Barboza & Dumont, 1992 *'' Branchinecta brushi'' Hegna & Lazo-Wasem, 2010 *''Branchinecta campestris'' Lynch, 1960 – pocket-pouch fairy shrimp *''Branchinecta coloradensis'' Packard, 1874 – Colorado fairy shrimp *'' Branchinecta constricta'' Rogers, 2006 *'' Branchinecta conservatio'' Eng, Belk & Eriksen, 1990 – conservancy fairy shrimp *''Branchinecta cornigera'' Lynch, 1958 – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Branchinecta Gigas
''Branchinecta gigas'' is a species of fairy shrimp that lives in western Canada and the United States. It is the largest species of fairy shrimp, growing up to long. It is known commonly as the giant fairy shrimp. Description Females reach sexual maturity when they are long, and grow up to long; males reach only . Unpublished records exist of individuals up to long. Despite being the largest species, ''B. gigas'' has the proportionally smallest eyes of any species in the family, and possibly in all Anostraca. Distribution ''Branchinecta gigas'' has been found in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Washington, Montana, Oregon, North Dakota, Utah, Nevada and California. A related species, '' B. raptor'', occurs in Idaho. Ecology and behaviour ''B. gigas'' lives in hypersaline lakes and rivers, with salinity ranging from 1.8 ‰ to 5.8‰. These waters often have high turbidity (low visibility), and so ''B. gigas'' hunts by touch rather than by sight. When feeding, ''B. gig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chirocephalidae
Chirocephalidae is a family of fairy shrimp, characterised by a reduced or vestigial maxilla, more than two setae on the fifth endite, divided pre-epipodites and widely separated seminal vesicle The seminal vesicles (also called vesicular glands, or seminal glands) are a pair of two convoluted tubular glands that lie behind the urinary bladder of some male mammals. They secrete fluid that partly composes the semen. The vesicles are 5 ...s. It consists of the following eight genera, including the genera formerly placed in the families Linderiellidae and Polyartemiidae: *'' Artemiopsis'' G. O. Sars, 1897 *'' Branchinectella'' Daday de Dées, 1910 *'' Chirocephalus'' Prévost, 1820 *'' Dexteria'' Brtek, 1965 *'' Eubranchipus'' Verrill, 1870 *'' Linderiella'' Brtek, 1964 *'' Polyartemia'' Fischer, 1851 *'' Polyartemiella'' Daday de Dées, 1909 References Anostraca Crustacean families {{branchiopoda-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can be treated as a subphylum under the clade Mandibulata. It is now well accepted that the hexapods emerged deep in the Crustacean group, with the completed group referred to as Pancrustacea. Some crustaceans (Remipedia, Cephalocarida, Branchiopoda) are more closely related to insects and the other hexapods than they are to certain other crustaceans. The 67,000 described species range in size from '' Stygotantulus stocki'' at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span of up to and a mass of . Like other arthropods, crustaceans have an exoskeleton, which they moult to grow. They are distinguished from other groups of arthropods, such as insects, myriapods and chelicerates, by the possession of biramous (two-parted) limbs, and by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanymastigidae
Tanymastigidae is a family of fairy shrimp Anostraca is one of the four orders of crustaceans in the class Branchiopoda; its members are referred to as fairy shrimp. They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, and they have even been found in deserts, ice-covered mo .... It contains two genera: * '' Tanymastigites'' (Brtek, 1972) * '' Tanymastix'' (Simon, 1886) References External links * Anostraca Crustacean families {{Branchiopoda-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filter Feeder
Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feeding are clams, krill, sponges, baleen whales, and many fish (including some sharks). Some birds, such as flamingos and certain species of duck, are also filter feeders. Filter feeders can play an important role in clarifying water, and are therefore considered ecosystem engineers. They are also important in bioaccumulation and, as a result, as indicator organisms. Fish Most forage fish are filter feeders. For example, the Atlantic menhaden, a type of herring, lives on plankton caught in midwater. Adult menhaden can filter up to four gallons of water a minute and play an important role in clarifying ocean water. They are also a natural check to the deadly red tide. Extensive article on the role of menhaden in the ecosystem and possible resul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular microalgae, such as ''Chlorella,'' ''Prototheca'' and the diatoms, to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelp, a large brown alga which may grow up to in length. Most are aquatic and autotrophic (they generate food internally) and lack many of the distinct cell and tissue types, such as stomata, xylem and phloem that are found in land plants. The largest and most complex marine algae are called seaweeds, while the most complex freshwater forms are the ''Charophyta'', a division of green algae which includes, for example, ''Spirogyra'' and stoneworts. No definition of algae is generally accepted. One definition is that algae "have chlorophyll ''a'' as their primary photosynthetic pigment and lack a sterile covering of cells around thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family ( la, familia, plural ') is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for describing or recognizing a family, but in plants, they can be characterized on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Taxonomists often take different positions about descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for some time. The publishing of new data and opini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artemia Salina
''Artemia salina'' is a species of brine shrimp – aquatic crustaceans that are more closely related to ''Triops'' and cladocerans than to true shrimp. It belongs to a lineage that does not appear to have changed much in . ''A. salina'' is native to saline lakes, ponds and temporary waters (not seas) in the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe, Anatolia and Northern Africa. Considerable taxonomic confusion exists and some populations elsewhere have formerly been referred to as this species, but are now recognized as separate species. Description ''A. salina'' have three eyes and 11 pairs of legs and can grow to about in size. Their blood contains the pigment hemoglobin, which is also found in vertebrates. Males differ from females by having the second antennae markedly enlarged, and modified into clasping organs used in mating. Life cycle Males have two reproductive organs. Prior to copulation the male clasps the female with his clasping organ, assuming a dorsal positi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexual Maturity
Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definitions. Most multicellular organisms are unable to sexually reproduce at birth (animals) or germination (e.g. plants): depending on the species, it may be days, weeks, or years until they have developed enough to be able to do so. Also, certain cues may trigger an organism to become sexually mature. They may be external, such as drought (certain plants), or internal, such as percentage of body fat (certain animals). (Such internal cues are not to be confused with hormones, which directly produce sexual maturity – the production/release of those hormones is triggered by such cues.) Role of reproductive organs Sexual maturity is brought about by a maturing of the reproductive organs and the production of gametes. It may also be accompanied ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being about 40% larger than Europe, and has an area of . Most of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, with an average thickness of . Antarctica is, on average, the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and it has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of over along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost . Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, . The coastal regions can reach temperatures over in summer. Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Where vegetation o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as " shells". Examples of exoskeletons within animals include the arthropod exoskeleton shared by chelicerates, myriapods, crustaceans, and insects, as well as the shell of certain sponges and the mollusc shell shared by snails, clams, tusk shells, chitons and nautilus. Some animals, such as the turtle, have both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton. Role Exoskeletons contain rigid and resistant components that fulfill a set of functional roles in many animals including protection, excretion, sensing, support, feeding and acting as a barrier against desiccation in terrestrial organisms. Exoskeletons have a role in defense from pests and predators, support and in providing an attachment framework f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
