DK - WOW! The Visual Encyclopedia of Everything

23

COPEPODS

Many animals spend their entire lives as

members of the zooplankton. They include

the tiny shrimp-like copepods, which form

dense swarms in many seas, providing

food for shoals of fish and giant

filter-feeding whales.

ARROW WORMS

These long, almost transparent animals

prey on the other creatures of the

zooplankton, including copepods.

They are named for the way

that they shoot forward

through the water to

catch their victims.

This delicate organism is

a larvacean – a drifting

animal that lives in a

bubble of soft mucus

This bristly creature is the

larva of a marine worm.

As an adult, it will live on

the bottom of the sea

The plankton is full of

drifting fish eggs that

will hatch into tiny

planktonic larvae

Planktonic copepods

have long antennae

that act like parachutes

to stop them sinking

Arrow worms are armed

with strong grasping

spines, which they use

to seize copepods

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