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Please click here to send a question,
we will try to answer it as soon as possible.
- Are sea spiders actually spiders?
Taryn Riddin 14 August 2002
No they are not, sea spiders are in the phylum Arthropoda, sub-phylum Chelicerata,
class Pycnogonida. Even though both have 8 legs (4 pairs) the 2 groups are unrelated.
The head of sea spiders has a tubular proboscis and a pair of pincher like feeding
appendages (some have sensory pulps). The body is made up of 4 segments and a small
abdomen. Males have specialised legs below the head that carry the eggs. Most sea
spiders are carnivores feeding on anemones and bryozoans.
- Can sponges move?
Rory Pearton 3 August 2002
Sponges have no muscles, feet, arms or pseudopodia. They are sessile organisms that
attach to the substrate or other organisms. Sponges are primitive animals that lack
organs. They consist of structural material, spicules and spongin, that form the
skeleton and a few types of cells, one of which extracts the food particles from
the water.
- What is a red tide?
George Parker-Nance 10 March 2003
A red tide is a plankton bloom.
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