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Spatangus Purpureus
''Spatangus purpureus'', commonly known as the purple heart urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Spatangidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, where it lives immersed in the sediment. Description ''Spatangus purpureus'' has a somewhat flattened Test (biology), test with a flat oral surface (underside) and a domed aboral surface (upper side). It is an irregular animal and not radially symmetric as are most sea urchins; there is a notch at the front and the mouth is forward pointing, while the anus is at the rear. It can grow to a length of and a width of . The test is reddish-purple and there are two types of spines, many short, silky, purplish spines up to long, and fewer beige chitinous spines long. Distribution and habitat ''Spatangus purpureus'' is native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the English Channel. Its range extends from Iceland and the North Cape (Norway), North Cape in Norway southwards to S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Friedrich Müller
Otto Friedrich Müller, also known as Otto Friedrich Mueller (2 November 1730 – 26 December 1784) was a Danish naturalist and scientific illustrator. Biography Müller was born in Copenhagen. He was educated for the church, became tutor to a young nobleman, and after several years' travel with him, settled in Copenhagen in 1767, and married a lady of wealth. His first important works, ''Fauna Insectorum Friedrichsdaliana'' (Leipzig, 1764), and ''Flora Friedrichsdaliana'' (Strasbourg, 1767), giving accounts of the insects and flora of the estate of Frederiksdal, near Copenhagen, recommended him to Frederick V of Denmark, by whom he was employed to continue the ''Flora Danica'' a comprehensive atlas of the flora of Denmark. Müller added two volumes to the three published by Georg Christian Oeder since 1761. The study of invertebrates began to occupy his attention almost exclusively, and in 1771 he produced a work in German on “Certain Worms inhabiting Fresh and Salt Water,†... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fauna Of The Atlantic 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''. 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". 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'' comes from the name 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, and ''panis'' is the Greek equivalent of fauna. ''Fauna'' is also the word for a book that catalogues the animals in such a manner. The term was first used by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animals Described In 1776
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in which their body consists of a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from to . They have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology. Most living animal species are in Bilateria, a clade whose members have a bilaterally symmetric body plan. The Bilateria include the protostomes, containing animals such as nematodes, arthropods, flatworms, annelids and molluscs, and the deuterostomes, containing the echinoderms and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spatangus
''Spatangus'' is a genus of heart urchins in the Spatangidae family.Hansson, H. (2009)Spatangus Gray, 1825 Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species on 2 August 2010 The genus is synonymous with the previously recognised genera ''Prospatangus'' Lambert, 1902 and ''Spatagus''. There are nine recognised species. The type species is ''Spatangus purpureus'' Müller, 1776 by subsequent designation (Rowe & Gates, 1995). ''Spatangus'' comprises marine heart urchins that feed on subsurface deposits and graze. Fossil of heart urchins of this genus have been found in the sediments of Europe, United States, Egypt and Australia from Cretaceous to Pliocene (age range: 85.8 to 2.588 Ma). Species Species within this genus include: * '' Spatangus altus'' Mortensen, 1907 * '' Spatangus baixadoleitensis'' Maury, 1934a †* '' Spatangus beryl'' Fell, 1963 * '' Spatangus brissus'' * '' Spatangus californicus'' H.L. Clark, 1917 * '' Spatangus capensis'' Döderlein, 1905 * '' Spat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galeodea Echinophora
''Galeodea echinophora'', the spiny bonnet or helmet shell, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cassidae, the helmet snails and bonnet snails. The fossil record of this species dates back from the Miocene to the Quaternary (age range: 23.03 to 0.781 million years ago). These fossils have been found in India, Spain and Italy. Description The shell of ''Galeodea echinophora'' can reach a length of . The shell is globular or oval, with a large body whorl. The surface of the shell is yellowish-brown. The aperture is wide, with denticulate lips, a curved siphonal canal and a large columellar edge. Tubercles are quite variable, usually not very pronounced and may be entirely absent. These mollusks are carnivorous and eat mostly echinoderms, especially ''Echinocardium cordatum ''Echinocardium cordatum'', also known as the common heart urchin or the sea potato, is a sea urchin in the family (biology), family Loveniidae. It is found in sub-tida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparidae
The Sparidae are a family of fish in the order Perciformes, commonly called sea breams and porgies. The sheepshead, scup, and red seabream are species in this family. Most sparids are deep-bodied compressed fish with a small mouth separated by a broad space from the eye, a single dorsal fin with strong spines and soft rays, a short anal fin, long pointed pectoral fins and rather large firmly attached scales. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores. There are hermaphrodites in the Sparidae. Protogyny and protandry appear sporadically through this lineage of fish. Simultaneous hermaphrodites and bi-directional hermaphrodites do not appear as much since Sparidae are found in shallower waters. Species of fish that express a hermaphroditic condition usually "lack a genetic hardwire", therefore ecological factors play a role in sex determination. Most species possess grinding, molar-like teeth. Eating the head is known to cause hallu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Predation
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the host) and parasitoidism (which always does, eventually). It is distinct from scavenging on dead prey, though many predators also scavenge; it overlaps with herbivory, as seed predators and destructive frugivores are predators. Predators may actively search for or pursue prey or wait for it, often concealed. When prey is detected, the predator assesses whether to attack it. This may involve ambush or pursuit predation, sometimes after stalking the prey. If the attack is successful, the predator kills the prey, removes any inedible parts like the shell or spines, and eats it. Predators are adapted and often highly specialized for hunting, with acute senses such as vision, hearing, or smell. Many predatory animals, both vertebrate and inv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astropecten Aranciacus
''Astropecten aranciacus'', the red comb star, is a sea star of the family Astropectinidae. It is native to the east Atlantic Ocean (Portugal to Angola) and Mediterranean Sea. Habitat and behaviour ''Astropecten aranciacus'' lives very near the coast, and at low tide it buries itself in the sand, showing only the centre of its upper side which is swollen in the form of a cone. This cone acts like a sense organ. When it is touched, the cone contracts and the starfish buries itself on the sand again. Then at high tide, the starfish reappears on the surface of the substrate. It buries itself in the sand to shield parts of its body from the rays of the sun, especially the bottom surface which has no coloured pigment and is therefore particularly sensitive. ''Astropecten aranciacus'' lives on sandy, muddy or gravel bottoms at depths of . This species is active and easy to find in the late afternoon and during the night. Description This starfish has superomarginal plates equipped with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class (biology), class of generally marine invertebrate, marine annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. More than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include the lugworm (''Arenicola marina'') and the Alitta virens, sandworm or Alitta succinea, clam worm ''Alitta''. Polychaetes as a class are robust and widespread, with species that live in the coldest ocean temperatures of the abyssal plain, to forms which tolerate the extremely high temperatures near hydrothermal vents. Polychaetes occur throughout the Earth's oceans at all depths, from forms that live as plankton near the surface, to a 2- to 3-cm specimen (still unclassified) observed by the robot ocean probe Nereus (underwater vehicle), ''Nereus'' at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Urchin
Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of sea urchins are round and spiny, ranging in diameter from . Sea urchins move slowly, crawling with tube feet, and also propel themselves with their spines. Although algae are the primary diet, sea urchins also eat slow-moving (sessile) animals. Predators that eat sea urchins include a wide variety of fish, starfish, crabs, marine mammals. Sea urchins are also used as food especially in Japan. Adult sea urchins have fivefold symmetry, but their pluteus larvae feature bilateral (mirror) symmetry, indicating that the sea urchin belongs to the Bilateria group of animal phyla, which also comprises the chordates and the arthropods, the annelids and the molluscs, and are found in every ocean and in every climate, from the tropics to the pol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montacuta Substriata
''Montacuta substriata'' is a species of small marine bivalve mollusc in the family Lasaeidae. It is found on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean where it is often associated with a sea urchin, such as ''Spatangus purpureus''. This species was first described in 1808 by the English naturalist George Montagu who gave it the name ''Ligula substriata''. It was later transferred to the genus '' Montacuta'', making it ''Montacuta substriata''. Description ''Montacuta substriata'' is a very small oval bivalve, commonly about long, but sometimes up to twice that length. It has a smooth, pale yellow shell and attaches itself to one of the smaller spines on the oral surface (underside) of a sediment-dwelling sea urchin, such as ''Spatangus purpureus'' or an ''Echinocardium'' species. It usually attaches near the anus, where it is difficult to distinguish from a coarse grain of sand. Distribution and habitat ''Montacuta substriata'' is native to the coasts of Western Europe, its ran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_with_its_prey.jpg "Click for more on -> Predation")
