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This trend is concerning many scientists, as marine worms act as an important food source for many fish and wading birds. Marine worms are often keystone species in an ecosystem, and the introduction of plastic in the oceans not only diminishes the growth rates of the marine worms, but also affects the food chain of that ecosystem. [10]
Monogenea are small parasitic flatworms mainly found on skin or gills of fish. They are rarely longer than about 2 cm. A few species infecting certain marine fish are larger, and marine forms are generally larger than those found on freshwater hosts. Monogenea are often capable of dramatically elongating and shortening as they move.
Polychaeta (/ ˌ p ɒ l ɪ ˈ k iː t ə /) is a paraphyletic [1] class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (/ ˈ p ɒ l ɪ ˌ k iː t s /). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae , which are made of chitin .
Ragworms are predominantly marine organisms that may occasionally swim upstream to rivers and even climb to land (for example Lycastopsis catarractarum). They are commonly found in all water depths, foraging in seaweeds, hiding under rocks or burrowing in sand or mud. Ragworms are mainly omnivorous but many are active carnivores.
Some marine worms occupy a small variety of parasitic niches, living inside the bodies of other animals, while others live more freely in the marine environment or by burrowing underground. Different groups of marine worms are related only distantly, so they are found in several different phyla such as the Annelida (segmented worms ...
Polynoidae is a family of marine Polychaete worms known as "scale worms" due to the scale-like elytra on the dorsal surface. Almost 900 species are currently recognised belonging to 9 subfamilies and 167 genera. [1] They are active hunters, but generally dwell in protected environments such as under stones.
This wound on the fish then heals, leaving almost no scarring. Species of Philometra require two hosts to complete their life cycle. After the larval worms are released from the host fish, they are ingested by copepods which act as an intermediate host. Once inside the copepod, the larvae molt several times. Fish may then eat the infested copepod.
The nauplii will go through three stages before molting into copepodids, which associate with fish gills. [2] After a further five stages and mating, the male leaves the host and dies, while the female transitions into the anchored stage (may move to different fish host). [2] An anchor worm Lernaea sp. parasite on a Murray cod