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Elegant Feather Star
The elegant feather star (''Tropiometra carinata'') is a species of crinoid in the family Tropiometridae. Description Elegant feather stars may grow to 20 cm in total length. They are variably coloured in yellow to brown and are occasionally variegated in yellow and brown. They have ten long arms with ciliated side branches that taper to a point. They have 20-30 cirri per arm.Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa'' Distribution These animals are found off the South African coast from the Cape Peninsula to Mozambique as well as circumtropically. They are seen subtidally and down to at least 51m underwater. Ecology Elegant feather stars are usually found singly on shallow reefs and are more abundant on deeper reefs. If displaced they may swim using their arms. Commensal organisms such as the myzostomid worm ''Myzostoma fuscomaculatum ''Myzostoma fuscomaculatum'', the crinoid worm, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also sometimes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crinoid
Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are members of the largest crinoid order, Comatulida. Crinoids are echinoderms in the phylum Echinodermata, which also includes the starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as . Adult crinoids are characterised by having the mouth located on the upper surface. This is surrounded by feeding arms, and is linked to a U-shaped gut, with the anus being located on the oral disc near the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, in most crinoids the five arms are subdivided into ten or more. These have feathery pinnules and are spread wide to gather planktonic particles from the water. At some stage in their lives, most crinoids have ... [...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] |
Tropiometridae
''Tropiometra'' is a genus of crinoids in the monotypic family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ... Tropiometridae. Species The following species are found in this genus: *'' Tropiometra afra'' (Hartlaub, 1890) *'' Tropiometra carinata'' (Lamarck, 1816) *'' Tropiometra macrodiscus'' (Hara, 1895) *'' Tropiometra magnifica'' AH Clark, 1936 References Tropiometridae Taxa named by Austin Hobart Clark {{Crinoidea-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elegant Feather Star9
Elegance is beauty that shows unusual effectiveness and simplicity. Elegance is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in visual design, decorative arts, literature, science, and the aesthetics of mathematics. Elegant things often exhibit refined grace and suggest maturity, and in the case of mathematics, a deep mastery of the subject matter. General concept Essential components of the concept include simplicity and consistency of design, focusing on the essential features of an object. In art of any kind one might also require dignified grace, or restrained beauty of style. Visual stimuli are frequently considered elegant, if a small number of colors and stimuli are used, emphasizing the remainder. In philosophy of science In the philosophy of science, there are two concepts referring to two aspects of simplicity: elegance (syntactic simplicity), which means the number and complexity of hypotheses, and parsimony (ontological simplicity), which is the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of river systems; the Zambezi River being the most prominent. The Zambezi flows from the northwest corner of Zambia and western Angola to the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique. Along the way, the Zambezi River flows over the mighty Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the world and a major tourist attraction for the region. Southern Africa includes both subtropical and temperate climates, with the Tropic of Capricorn running through the middle of the region, dividing it into its subtropical and temperate halves. Countries commonly included in Southern Africa include Angola, Botswana, the Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namib ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commensal
Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit from each other; amensalism, where one is harmed while the other is unaffected; parasitism, where one is harmed and the other benefits, and parasitoidism, which is similar to parasitism but the parasitoid has a free-living state and instead of just harming its host, it eventually ends up killing it. The commensal (the species that benefits from the association) may obtain nutrients, shelter, support, or locomotion from the host species, which is substantially unaffected. The commensal relation is often between a larger host and a smaller commensal; the host organism is unmodified, whereas the commensal species may show great structural adaptation consistent with its habits, as in the remoras that ride attached to sharks and other fishes. Remo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myzostomida
The Myzostomida or Myzostomatida are an order of small marine worms, which are parasitic on echinoderms, mostly crinoids. These highly unusual and diverse annelids were first discovered by Friedrich Sigismund Leuckart in 1827. Morphology A typical myzostomid has a flattened, rounded shape, with a thin edge drawn out into delicate radiating hairs called cirri. The dorsal surface is smooth, with five pairs of parapodia on the bottom surface. These parapodia are armed with supporting and hooked setae, by means of which the worm adheres to its host. Beyond the parapodia are four pairs of organs, often called suckers. These organs are probably of sensory nature, and are comparable to the lateral sense organs of capitellids. The mouth and cloacal opening are generally at opposite ends of the bottom surface. The former leads to a protrusible pharynx, from which the esophagus opens into a wide intestinal chamber with branching lateral diverticula. There appears to be no vascular syst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myzostoma Fuscomaculatum
''Myzostoma fuscomaculatum'', the crinoid worm, is a species of marine worm in the family Myzostomida.Lanterbecq D., Hempson T., Griffiths C. & Eeckhaut I, 2008. ''Myzostoma fuscomaculatum'' (Myzostomida), a new myzostome species from False Bay, South Africa. ''Hydrobiologia'' Description Crinoid worms are tiny worms with stubby legs which live on the elegant feather star, ''Tropiometra carinata''. They are usually well camouflaged to match their host. They grow to 2mm in total length.Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa'' Distribution Crinoid worms are found off the South African coast in False Bay in 10m to at least 35m of water. They appear to be endemic. Ecology These animals are parasitic on their host crinoid Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippolyte Catagrapha
The crinoid shrimp, or feather star shrimpJones, Georgina. ''A field guide to the marine animals of the Cape Peninsula.'' SURG, Cape Town, 2008. ''Hippolyte catagrapha'', is a species of shrimp in the family Hippolytidae Description Crinoid shrimps grow to up to 3 cm in total length. They are well camouflaged shrimps which live on a host crinoid, the elegant feather star, ''Tropiometra carinata''.Branch, G.M., Branch, M.L, Griffiths, C.L. and Beckley, L.E. 2010. ''Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa'' Distribution These animals are found off the South African coast in False Bay and have been seen from 10 to at least 30 m underwater. They are probably endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ... to this area. There is evidence howeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
