- Leafy sea dragon
Leafy sea dragon
The appearance of the sea dragon looks like both seaweed and seahorse. In fact, it is an animal belonging to the family Syngnathidae and is a “relative” of seahorses. Unlike seahorses, leafy sea dragons can grow very large. The life of sea dragons depends on this seaweed-like camouflage. Usually, they just need to quietly hide in the cover of seaweed, waiting for the unfortunate plankton and sea lice that come in the gentle water flow, and then use their tubular mouths to “suck” to fill their stomachs.
- Anemone
Princess anemone
The surface of the anemone looks like a flower in the sea. The “petals” sway back and forth with the turbulence of the water flow, which is pleasing to the eye, but in fact, they are their tentacles. Different anemones have different habits, and the weapons they rely on and the food they like are also different. They usually use the stinging cells on their tentacles to contact prey, and then send them into their mouths after the prey is paralyzed. Sea anemones generally settle in fixed places, and when they encounter natural enemies, they will try to twist and escape. Sea anemones and clownfish also have a special relationship-a symbiotic relationship. They can benefit each other, which is why clownfish often appear with anemones.
- Sea lilies
Sea lilies with stalks
Sea lilies are a very ancient echinoderm that has survived from the Cambrian period to the 21st century. Similar to anemones, those long, swaying “petals” are also weapons. But anemones are actually coelenterates. Sea lilies can be divided into two major categories: one with a stalk, just like an immobile anemone, it relies on the swinging of its arms to prey on filtered plankton; the other without a stalk, like a large flower disk, relies on its arms to swim in the sea, actively attacking food, and is more free.
- Corals
Corals in the sea
Compared to the several animals introduced earlier, corals look motionless. How can they be animals? But in fact, corals are also coelenterates. Coral polyps live on the bodies of dead coral polyps since their larvae, waiting for plankton to come to them. During the life of coral polyps, they will secrete shells (calcium carbonate and organic matter). Slowly, calcium carbonate and the bodies of coral polyps accumulate and “grow” coral reefs like trees. The bright colors depend on the symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae, which work together with coral polyps to produce the brilliant colors.