Level: 2
Category: Nature
Year: 1956

Marine Invertebrates

  1. Be able to identify at least one example of 15 of the following seashore animals:
    1. Tunicate (sea squirt)
    2. Anemone (sea flower)
    3. Chitin
    4. Hermit crab
    5. Brittle star or serpent star
    6. Sea urchin
    7. Sea cucumber
    8. Bryoza colony (moss animal)
    9. Barnacle
    10. Ghost crab
    11. Common Starfish
    12. Mussle or clamworm
    13. Limpet
    14. Tube worm
    15. Oyster
    16. Amphipod (sand flea)
    17. Sponge
    18. Sand dollar
    19. Coral
  2. Make a collection of at least nine seashore animals, including the following:
    1. Three kinds of crabs
    2. One kind of starfish
    3. Any other five animals listed in requirement #1. Hard bodied animals, such as crabs, starfish, and chitins may be killed in a five percent solution of formaldehyde or a 70 percent solution of alcohol, and then dried by a fire. The sun will cause the color to fade.
    4. Soft bodied animals must be kept in a three percent solution of formaldehyde or a 70 percent solution of alcohol. If commercial formalin is used in place of formaldehyde, the above percentage figures should be
      doubled.
  3. Describe the following processes:
    1. Swimming action of a jellyfish
    2. The method of anemone capturing food
    3. The running of a crab
    4. How does a starfish digest a clam or oyster when it has a small mouth opening?
  4. Name four low tide animals and two high tide animals.
  5. Answer the following questions on relationships:
    1. What relationship do crabs and barnacles have to insects?
    2. What relationship does the sea squirt have to man?
    3. Name a common land dweller that is related to the clamworm.
    4. The octopus belongs to the phylum Mollusca. Which two animals listed in requirement #1 are related to the octopus?
    5. Starfish, sea cucumber, and sea urchin all belong to the phylum Echinodermata. Why is that? (Clue: find out what “Echinodermata” means.)
  6. Give an oral report on two of the following activities:
    1. Visit a seashore at night and by means of a flashlight observe the activity of animals on shore and in the water. Notice thousands of plants and animals visible when the beam of light is directed into the water. These minute organisms are called plankton.
    2. Tow a fine mesh cloth or regular plankton net through the water and observe through a microscope the many tiny animals and plants that are collected.
    3. Select three specimens under #1 that are important economically. Explain.