164 Animals and Habitats: Supplemental Guide 8A | Animals of the Saltwater Habitat
crawling about, and they use antennae on their head to feel their
way along the murky ocean fl oor. I have to watch out for that
lobster’s claws! They are called pincers, and they are very strong!
The lobster uses them to defend itself against its prey, and to
catch and crush its own food.
Lobsters are carnivores; they eat fi sh, worms, and other
shellfi sh. I’m going to move out of the way of this lobster before I
get squeezed!
Show image 8A-11: Hammerhead shark
Looks like I moved right into the path of another predator. This
is a hammerhead shark. If you take a look, you can see how the
hammerhead got its name. Its head is very thick, and it looks like
a hammer from above, with an eye and a nostril on each end. The
hammerhead shark is a large fi sh, growing up to twenty feet long
and weighing over fi ve hundred pounds. That’s about the same
weight as ten fi rst graders! Hammerheads like to live in warm
waters, so they are mostly found near the coast where the waters
are shallow and warmer.
Show image 8A-12: Shark swimming near reef
Sharks are carnivores. The hammerhead’s favorite food is a
fi sh called a ray, but it also likes to eat octopus, lobster, crab, and
fi sh, including other sharks. Most sharks have smooth and slender
bodies, which help them to swim fast. Their mouths are full of
sharp teeth to help them catch their prey.
Show image 8A-13: Blue whale
Let’s go back up to the surface. There’s a sea animal I’m sure
you’ll want to see, but we have to travel farther out to sea away
from the coral reef and into deeper water to see it. This amazing
creature is the biggest animal in the world. It’s a blue whale! Blue
whales have blue-gray skin and are covered in a layer of blubber
that helps keep them warm in the frigid ocean depths.^8 Blue
whales are so big that they can weigh as much as twenty-fi ve
elephants! In fact, blue whales are the biggest animals known to
have lived on earth—even bigger than dinosaurs!8 What is blubber? (a layer of fat that
keeps the animal warm)