Marine Arthropod
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
A Marine Arthropod is an arthropod that lives in a marine environment, encompassing a diverse range of species from various arthropod groups, including crustaceans, chelicerates, and trilobites.
- Context:
- It can (typically) be found in oceans, seas, and other saltwater habitats around the world.
- It can (often) include crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimp, which are well-known marine arthropods.
- It can range from being a trilobite, an extinct marine arthropod, to modern species like horseshoe crabs and sea spiders.
- It can contribute to marine ecosystems by fulfilling various ecological roles, including predators, scavengers, and filter feeders.
- It can have diverse forms and sizes, from tiny planktonic copepods to large crustaceans like the Japanese spider crab.
- It can possess specialized adaptations for marine life, such as gills for breathing underwater and appendages for swimming or burrowing.
- It can be an important subject in the study of marine biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.
- It can play a significant role in human activities, such as fishing and aquaculture, and have economic importance.
- ...
- Example(s):
- a Trilobite, an extinct marine arthropod known from the fossil record.
- a Lobster, a large crustacean commonly found in marine environments and known for its economic value.
- a Horseshoe Crab, a marine arthropod with a distinctive, hard exoskeleton and long tail spine.
- a Copepod, a tiny planktonic crustacean that is a key component of marine food webs.
- ...
- Counter-Example(s):
- Terrestrial Arthropods, such as insects and spiders, which live on land rather than in marine environments.
- Freshwater Arthropods, like certain species of crayfish and water fleas, which inhabit freshwater ecosystems.
- See: Arthropod, Crustacean, Trilobite, Horseshoe Crab, Sea Spider, Marine Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology.