|
Patiria Chilensis
''Patiria chilensis'' is a species of starfish in the family Asterinidae. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean along the coasts of South America. It is a broadly pentagonal, cushion-like starfish with five short arms. Ecology ''P. chilensis'' occurs in the rocky intertidal zone in temperate seas off the coast of Chile. It is mainly present in the lower algal zone, dominated by the kelps ''Lessonia nigrescens'' and ''Durvillaea antarctica'' and various encrusting coralline algae. Echinoids occurring in this zone include ''Loxechinus albus'' and ''Tetrapygus niger'', and starfish include ''Stichaster striatus'', '' Meyenaster gelatinosus'' and the dominant ''Heliaster helianthus''. These starfish are the dominant carnivores in this zone and seem to play an important role in maintaining the community structure. Besides being a predator of sessile organisms, ''P. chilensis'' is an opportunistic feeder, scavenging for dead animal matter and detritus In biology, detritus ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Frederik Lütken
Christian Frederik Lütken (; 7 October 1827, in Sorø – 6 February 1901), was a Denmark, Danish zoologist and naturalist. In 1852, he resigned his commission as a lieutenant with the Danish army, and earned his master's degree in sciences the following year.Darwinarkivet.dk Christian Frederik Lütken (1827-1901) Afterwards, he served as an assistant to Japetus Steenstrup (1813–1897) at the University of Copenhagen Zoological Museum, at the time an independent institution, now part of the University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden, Natural History Museum of Denmark. Following Steenstrup's retirement in 1885, he became a professor of zoology and director of the zoological museum. As he grew older, he suffered from physical infirmities and during the last year of his life, he was strick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetrapygus Niger
''Tetrapygus'' is a genus of sea urchins in the family Arbaciidae. It is a monotypic genus and the only species is ''Tetrapygus niger'' which was first described by the Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean on the coasts of South America. Description The oral (under) surface of the test is flattened while the aboral (upper) surface is shallowly domed. There is a small apical disc and the ambulacral areas are straight. There are up to five large primary tubercles in rows in the inter-ambulacral areas, interspersed with smaller secondary tubercles. The mouth is surrounded by a sunken subpentagonal peristome which is half as wide as the test. The primary spines are moderately long while the secondary spines are short. The colour of this sea urchin is purplish-black. Distribution ''T. niger'' is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean on the coasts of Peru and Chile, its range extending from northern Peru to the Strait of Magel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna Of The Pacific Ocean
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology), biota''. Zoologists and paleontologists use ''fauna'' to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess Shale fauna". Paleontology, Paleontologists sometimes refer to a sequence of faunal stages, which is a series of rocks all containing similar fossils. The study of animals of a particular region is called faunistics. Etymology ''Fauna of Madagascar, Fauna'' comes from the name Fauna (deity), Fauna, a Roman goddess of earth and fertility, the Roman god Faunus, and the related forest spirits called Fauns. All three words are cognates of the name of the Greek god Pan (god), Pan, and ''panis'' is the Greek language, Greek equivalent of fauna. ''Fauna'' is also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autotomy
Autotomy (from the Greek language, Greek ''auto-'', "self-" and ''tome'', "severing", wikt:αὐτοτομία, αὐτοτομία) or self-amputation, is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds or discards one or more of its own appendages, usually as a self-preservation, self-defense mechanism to elude a predation, predator's grasp or to distract the predator and thereby allow escape. Some animals have the ability to regeneration (biology), regenerate the lost body part later. Autotomy has multiple evolutionary origins and is thought to have evolved at least nine times independently in animalia. The term was coined in 1883 by Léon Fredericq, Leon Fredericq. Vertebrates Reptiles and amphibians Some lizards, salamanders and tuatara when caught by the tail will shed part of it in attempting to escape. In many species the detached tail will continue to wriggle, creating a deceptive sense of continued struggle, and distracting the predator's attention from the fleeing prey animal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detritus
In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decompose (i.e. remineralize) it. In terrestrial ecosystems it is present as leaf litter and other organic matter that is intermixed with soil, which is denominated " soil organic matter". The detritus of aquatic ecosystems is organic material that is suspended in the water and accumulates in depositions on the floor of the body of water; when this floor is a seabed, such a deposition is denominated "marine snow". Theory The corpses of dead plants or animals, material derived from animal tissues (e.g. molted skin), and fecal matter gradually lose their form due to physical processes and the action of decomposers, including grazers, bacteria, and fungi. Decomposition, the process by which or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heliaster Helianthus
The sun star ''(Heliaster helianthus)'' is a species of Asteroidea (starfish) in the family Heliasteridae. It is found in shallow water rocky habitats and in the kelp forests off the Pacific coast of Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Description ''H. helianthus'' is a multi-armed starfish, the number of arms usually being in the range 28 to 39, and the diameter typically being between . The aboral (upper) surface is brown with reddish tubercles while the oral (under) surface is white or yellowish-white. The disc is broad and the ossicles (plate-like components in the skin) in the proximal parts of the arms (closest to the disc) are connected to those of the neighbouring arms by connective tissue, forming inter-arm septa. This means that only a small part of each arm is free, the rest appearing to form part of the disc. Distribution and habitat This species is present in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, along the west coast of South America. Its range includes Ecuador, Peru and Chile, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meyenaster Gelatinosus
''Meyenaster'' is a genus of starfish in the family Asteriidae. It is a monotypic genus and the only species is ''Meyenaster gelatinosus'' which was first described by the Prussian botanist and zoologist Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen in 1834. It is found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean on the coasts of South America. Description ''M. gelatinosus'' is a white starfish with six arms and a mean radius ranging from . Distribution and habitat ''M. gelatinosus'' is native to the southeastern Pacific Ocean where it is found on the coasts of Chile. It is abundant in kelp forests in the subtidal zone as well as being found on sand and gravel bottoms, and among seagrasses. It is usually found in areas with strong surge away from quiet locations. Ecology In the kelp forests, ''M. gelatinosus'' is one of the dominant predators along with the starfish ''Stichaster striatus'', ''Luidia magellanica'' and ''Heliaster helianthus'', the fish ''Pinguipes chilensis'', ''Semicossyphus darwini'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stichaster Striatus
''Stichaster striatus'', the common light striated star, is a species of starfish in the family Stichasteridae, found in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. It was first described by the German zoologists Johannes Peter Müller and Franz Hermann Troschel in 1840. Distribution and habitat ''Stichaster striatus'' is native to the southeastern Pacific Ocean, along the coast of South America. It occurs on rocky and sandy seabeds and among kelp in intertidal areas, with a maximum depth of . Ecology This starfish is gregarious and a predator. Although it has been recorded in Chile as feeding on twenty-eight different species of invertebrate, the majority of these were sessile organisms. It was not found to engage in cannibalism of its own species or to feed on other species of starfish. Many individuals were found to have missing or regenerating arms. This is likely the result of attacks by the dominant predatory starfish in the region '' Meyenaster gelatinosus'' and ''Luidia magell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loxechinus Albus
''Loxechinus albus'' is an echinoderm of the family Parechinidae, native to coastal southern South America, ranging from Ecuador, along the entire coasts of Peru and Chile, to Argentina, as well as the Falkland Islands. It is the only species in the genus ''Loxechinus''. It is known as the Chilean sea urchin or red sea urchin, but the latter name is typically used for the North Pacific '' Mesocentrotus franciscanus'' and it is not the only species of sea urchin in Chile (although it is the most common and widespread large sea urchins in that country). ''L. albus'' is found on rocky reefs and shores in the intertidal and subtidal zones to a depth of .Carolina J. Zagal and Consuelo Hermosilla C. (2007). ''Guía de Invertebrados marinos del sur de Chile''. Editorial Fantástico Sur, Punta Arenas, Chile Description ''Loxechinus albus'' is a fast-growing, relatively large sea urchin with a test diameter of up to , although the far southernmost populations tend to grow slower and reach ... [...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] |
Coralline Algae
Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The colors of these algae are most typically pink, or some other shade of red, but some species can be purple, yellow, blue, white, or gray-green. Coralline algae play an important role in the ecology of coral reefs. Sea urchins, parrot fish, and limpets and chitons (both mollusks) feed on coralline algae. In the temperate Mediterranean Sea, coralline algae are the main builders of a typical algal reef, the ''Coralligène'' ("coralligenous"). Many are typically encrusting and rock-like, found in marine waters all over the world. Only one species lives in freshwater. Unattached specimens ( maerl, rhodoliths) may form relatively smooth compact balls to warty or fruticose thalli. A close look at almost any intertidal rocky shore or coral reef will reveal an abundance of pink to pinkish-grey patches, distributed throu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Durvillaea Antarctica
''Durvillaea antarctica'', also known as ' and ', is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found on the coasts of Chile, southern New Zealand, and Macquarie Island.Smith, J.M.B. and Bayliss-Smith, T.P. (1998). Kelp-plucking: coastal erosion facilitated by bull-kelp ''Durvillaea antarctica'' at subantarctic Macquarie Island, ''Antarctic Science'' 10 (4), 431–438. . ''D. antarctica'', an alga, does not have air bladders, but floats due to a unique honeycomb structure within the alga's blades, which also helps the kelp avoid being damaged by the strong waves.Maggy WassilieffSeaweed - Bull kelp’s honeycombed structure ''Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Updated 2 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010. Taxonomy The species was first described in 1822, as ''Fucus antarcticus'', and revised in 1892 as ''Durvillaea antarctica''. The genus name ''Durvillaea'' was given in memory of the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville, while the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
