Parasagitta elegans

Last updated

Parasagitta elegans
Parasagitta elegans.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chaetognatha
Class: Sagittoidea
Order: Aphragmophora
Family: Sagittidae
Genus: Parasagitta
Species:
P. elegans
Binomial name
Parasagitta elegans
(Verrill, 1873)

Parasagitta elegans, the elegant arrow worm, is a small arrow worm in the family Sagittidae, previously named Sagitta elegans

Contents

Morphology

Parasagitta elegans (prev. Sagitta elegans). Body of adult animal can grow up to 45 mm, is narrow, firm and opaque (this image: animal very see-through. Visible opaque animal needs better picture).

Fins are separated, rounded, and completely rayed. Anterior fins beginning below the ventral ganglion. Alimentary diverticula present. Eyes with small, round pigment spot. Ovaries long and narrow. Seminal vesicles conical in shape, either exactly next to or very close to the tail fin, separated from posterior fins.

For anatomy, reproduction, classification, and fossil record; see Chaetognatha

Taxonomy

Three subspecies are recognised - Sagitta elegans arctica, Sagitta elegans baltica and Sagitta elegans elegans. [1] The subspecies are considered to vary in size depending on the temperature of the waters in which they develop, which could be an indication of them being synonymous species. The numbers of hooks and teeth vary slightly in the three subspecies. [2]

Ecology

General

With exception for the benthic species Spadella, arrow worms are all adapted for planktonic existence. They swim to the surface at night when it is safer for them to hunt, and descend during daytime. Most of the time they drift passively, but they can dart forward in swift spurts, using their caudal fin and longitudinal muscles. Horizontal fins bordering the trunk serve largely as stabilizers, and are used in flotation rather than in active swimming.

Distribution

Parasagitta elegans and the three subspecies occur in Arctic and subarctic waters. S. elegans elegans is a coastal subspecies with oceanic influence. S. elegans arctica is a boreal-arctic form, and S. elegans baltica is the smallest form, found only in or near the Baltic Sea. [3] All subspecies are typically found in waters 0-200m deep. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue whale</span> Baleen whale, largest animal ever known

The blue whale is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. Reaching a maximum confirmed length of 29.9 meters (98 ft) and weighing up to 199 tonnes, it is the largest animal known ever to have existed. The blue whale's long and slender body can be of various shades of greyish-blue dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. Four subspecies are recognized: B. m. musculus in the North Atlantic and North Pacific, B. m. intermedia in the Southern Ocean, B. m. brevicauda in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, and B. m. indica in the Northern Indian Ocean. There is also a population in the waters off Chile that may constitute a fifth subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invertebrate</span> Animals without a vertebral column

Invertebrates is an umbrella term describing animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column, which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum Vertebrata, i.e. vertebrates. Well-known phyla of invertebrates include arthropods, mollusks, annelids, echinoderms, flatworms, cnidarians and sponges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaetognatha</span> Phylum of marine worms

The Chaetognatha or chaetognaths are a phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton worldwide. Commonly known as arrow worms, about 20% of the known Chaetognatha species are benthic, and can attach to algae and rocks. They are found in all marine waters, from surface tropical waters and shallow tide pools to the deep sea and polar regions. Most chaetognaths are transparent and are torpedo shaped, but some deep-sea species are orange. They range in size from 2 to 120 millimetres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-throated loon</span> A migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere

The black-throated loon, also known as the Arctic loon and the black-throated diver, is a migratory aquatic bird found in the northern hemisphere, primarily breeding in freshwater lakes in northern Europe and Asia. It winters along sheltered, ice-free coasts of the north-east Atlantic Ocean and the eastern and western Pacific Ocean. This loon was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and has two subspecies. It was previously considered to be the same species as the Pacific loon, of which it is traditionally considered to be a sister species, although this is debated. In a study that used mitochondrial and nuclear intron DNA, the black-throated loon was found to be sister to a clade consisting of the Pacific loon and two sister species, the common loon and the yellow-billed loon.

<i>Amiskwia</i> Genus of extinct, gnathiferan worms

Amiskwia is a genus of soft-bodied animals known from fossils of the Middle Cambrian Lagerstätten both in the Burgess Shale in British Columbia, Canada and the Maotianshan shales of Yunnan Province, China. It is interpreted as a member of the clade Gnathifera sensu lato.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fin whale</span> Baleen whale, and second-largest mammal species

The fin whale, also known as finback whale or common rorqual and formerly known as herring whale or razorback whale, is a cetacean belonging to the parvorder of baleen whales. It is the second-longest species of cetacean on Earth after the blue whale. The largest reportedly grow to 27.3 m (89.6 ft) long with a maximum confirmed length of 25.9 m (85 ft), a maximum recorded weight of nearly 74 tonnes, and a maximum estimated weight of around 114 tonnes. American naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews called the fin whale "the greyhound of the sea ... for its beautiful, slender body is built like a racing yacht and the animal can surpass the speed of the fastest ocean steamship."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-beaked dolphin</span> Species of mammal

The white-beaked dolphin is a marine mammal belonging to the family Delphinidae in the suborder Odontoceti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haddock</span> Species of fish

The haddock is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Melanogrammus. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas, where it is an important species for fisheries, especially in northern Europe, where it is marketed fresh, frozen and smoked; smoked varieties include the Finnan haddie and the Arbroath smokie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-finned pilot whale</span> Species of mammal

The short-finned pilot whale is one of the two species of cetaceans in the genus Globicephala, which it shares with the long-finned pilot whale. It is part of the oceanic dolphin family (Delphinidae).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclopteridae</span> Family of fishes

The Cyclopteridae are a family of marine fishes, commonly known as lumpsuckers or lumpfish, in the order Scorpaeniformes. They are found in the cold waters of the Arctic, North Atlantic, and North Pacific oceans. The greatest number of species are found in the North Pacific. The family name Cyclopteridae derives from the Greek words κύκλος (kyklos), meaning "circle", and πτέρυξ (pteryx), meaning "wing" or "fin", in reference to the circle-shaped pectoral fins of most of the fish in this family.

<i>Dolichovespula</i> Genus of wasps

Dolichovespula is a small genus of social wasps distributed widely throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The yellow and black members of the genus are known by the common name yellowjackets in North America, such as Dolichovespula norwegica, along with members of their sister genus Vespula. In a study on the nesting biology of Dolichovespula, a colony of D. maculata with 771 workers was reported as having the largest recorded population count.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banded houndshark</span> Species of shark

The banded houndshark is a species of houndshark in the family Triakidae, common in the northwestern Pacific Ocean from the southern Russian Far East to Taiwan. Found on or near the bottom, it favors shallow coastal habitats with sandy or vegetated bottoms, and also enters brackish water. This shark reaches 1.5 m (4.9 ft) in length. It has a short, rounded snout and mostly narrow fins; the pectoral fins are broad and triangular, and the trailing margin of the first dorsal fin is almost vertical. It is gray above and lighter below; younger sharks have darker saddles and dots, which fade with age.

María de los Ángeles Alvariño González, known as Ángeles Alvariño, was a Spanish fishery research biologist and oceanographer globally recognized as an authority in plankton biology. She was the first woman ever appointed as scientist aboard any British or Spanish exploration ship. She discovered 22 new species of marine animals and published over a hundred scientific books, essays, and articles. In her late career she studied the history of early marine scientific exploration.

<i>Astarte borealis</i> Species of bivalve mollusc

Astarte borealis, or the northern astarte, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Astartidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast of North America, ranging from Greenland to Massachusetts.

<i>Sagitta</i> (arrowworm) Genus of marine worms

Sagitta is a genus of Chaetognatha, a phylum commonly known as arrowworms or arrow worms. Phylum Chaetognatha comprises small marine worms.

<i>Liparis fabricii</i> Species of fish

Liparis fabricii, commonly known as the gelatinous seasnail or gelatinous snailfish, is a benthopelagic species of snailfish from the Arctic Ocean. It has a tadpole-like body with a maximum length of about 20 cm (7.9 in). It is brown to black in coloration with a distinctive dark peritoneum. It preys on small crustaceans and marine worms. It is not commercially important, though it is a valuable food source for predatory fish and seabirds in the Arctic region.

<i>Parasagitta setosa</i> Species of marine worm

Parasagitta setosa, the coastal arrow worm, is a small arrow worm in the family Sagittidae, previously referred to as Sagitta setosa. It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, and also occurs in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.

<i>Parasagitta</i> Genus of marine worms

Parasagitta is a genus of arrow worms in the family Sagittidae. At one time these arrow worms were classified in the genus Sagitta.

<i>Sepia elegans</i> Species of cuttlefish

Sepia elegans, the elegant cuttlefish, is a species of cuttlefish in the family Sepiidae from the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is an important species for fisheries in some parts of the Mediterranean where its population may have suffered from overfishing.

References

  1. Thuesen, Erik V. "Parasagitta elegans (Verrill, 1873)". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  2. A. C. Pierrot-Bults & K. C. Chidgey (1988). Doris M. Kermack & R. S. K. Barnes (eds.). "Chaetognatha".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Fraser, J. H. (1952). "The Chaetognatha and other zooplankton of the Scottish area and their value as biological indicators of hydrographical conditions".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Immerz, Antonia. Abundanz Und Verteilung Von Chaetognathen in Der Arktis. 25 July 2016, epic.awi.de/id/eprint/43249/1/BachelorThesis_AntoniaImmerz.pdf.