Page 51 - Caribbean Reef Life Demo
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SPIRAL SIPHONOPHORE
ors alia tholoides ell . cm in Swimming zooids arranged in a spiral. Thin tentacles with numerous large feeding zooids and tiny red stinging tentilla.
Siphonophores can occasionally drift over reefs and these planktonic animals should be treated with caution. The most noticeable is the ortuguese Man-of-War, with a oat that keeps the main body on the surface. Others have small oats that keep them neutrally buoyant in the water column. Siphonophores are colonies made up of numerous tiny animals called zooids, each with a specialized job. They hunt by trailing long tentacles with bright tentilla pictured left , used for catching prey. The tentacles of some species often reach over 10 m and should be given a wide berth.
The tentilla contain stinging cells called nematocysts. pon contact, these cells re a tiny harpoon-like barb that injects a strong poison into the prey right . Despite these poisons some animals have developed a taste for siphonophores, such as the planktonic larval crab far right that can actively hunt down and consume these dangerous animals.
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