As of May 31, 2023, we have updated our Code of Conduct.

Questions tagged [invertebrates]

A paraphyletic classification for animals lacking a vertebral column.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
13 votes
1 answer
3k views

Identify blue/translucent jelly-like animal on beach

A few weeks back a beach in California had lots of this animal (if it is an animal?). Can anyone identify what it is? They had a distinct blue bottom and a see-through top.
JenserCube's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
28 views

What determines the color of the air sac of a Portuguese man o' war?

I know that the Portuguese man o' war is a colonial organism composed of many "zooids", one of which is the pneumatophore, which essentially serves as a flotation device for the whole colony....
Robert Columbia's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
63 views

Origin of holes at 800 m depth in the Mediterranean

From 8 to 12 small 2-3 cm holes in the bottom mud are forming rounds with a diameter of 20-40 cm. No tentacles or other body parts have been observed. Mediterranean sea, 600-1000 m. What are they?
Mikhail N's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
92 views

What do Wild Silverfish Eat?

Silverfish are famous for eating wallpaper paste. The paste is made of starch mixed with water. Wikipedia says silverfish love starch They consume matter that contains polysaccharides, such as ...
Daron's user avatar
  • 234
1 vote
0 answers
31 views

Which varieties of Aurelia aurita do not have a polyp phase?

According to this "In some Aurelia aurita, the polyp stage does not exist.", but they don't cite anything. Is there a resource detailing life cycles of various jellyfish or do I have to find ...
beardeadclown's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
68 views

How can a small bug dart around in a slug's slime?

Last year I saw a large slug in the garden, and when I looked closer there was a small creature moving around rapidly, and I mean really fast (hence my use of the word "dart" in the question ...
John Ramsden's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
114 views

Identification of odd jellyfish-like creature in the Mediterranean

My parents encountered this unknown creature on a beach in Karpathos, Greece. None of the locals have seen it before, it may be a species that has moved further north due to ocean warming. Any ideas ...
GCon's user avatar
  • 251
6 votes
1 answer
161 views

Do lobsters demonstrate any problem solving capability?

I was watching this video where a man takes a grocery store lobster and raises it in a salt tank, the lobster exhibits curious behavior that looks like intent. In the comments there was a claim that ...
Krupip's user avatar
  • 371
4 votes
1 answer
111 views

Please, help identify this sea worm

It was found in Malta, in a puddle by the sea. It left a lot of tiny hair on the shoes (which we removed thoroughly without touching them). I didn’t have any coins with me so I put keys for scale.
Thomas's user avatar
  • 1,093
6 votes
1 answer
42 views

By what mechanism do cephalopods regrow limbs?

As far as I can tell, there are two types of limb regeneration: epimorphosis and morphallaxis. Epimorphosis is used by animals such as amphibians and various phyla of worms, while morphallaxis is used ...
roundwoodsmonster's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
74 views

What is this worm like animal found on a well water filter?

This was found in the water filter on a private water well that feeds a house in southeast Colorado, USA. The well has hard water, and is shallow (25’). There are several of these creatures all over ...
JonS's user avatar
  • 11
4 votes
1 answer
239 views

Difference between haemocoel and coelom

I am looking for an embryological perspective on the following question. I know about coelom derivation, but I want to know how haemocoel is derived and how it is fundamentally different from coelom. ...
Jaskaran Gill's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
35 views

Flatworms sexual reproduction; one must be the mother and the other the father?

I watched this. I wonder if both of these flatworms ever end up pregnant. Earthworms are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning worms have both male and female reproductive organs, just like flatworms. ...
a.RR's user avatar
  • 265
3 votes
0 answers
293 views

Strange planarian/leech like creatures found with California blackworms

I've been trying to ID these things myself but to no avail. They came with a shipment of California blackworms from Florida. I've heard so many ID's and apparently it's not uncommon to get these ...
Krupip's user avatar
  • 371
2 votes
1 answer
89 views

Identify arthropod with many legs in Mumbai

Can someone please identify this ~5 cm long arthropod? I've been finding one of these every 2-3 days inside my apartment ever since rainy season started here in Mumbai (June). The bulb portion is its ...
Limpy's user avatar
  • 21
0 votes
1 answer
55 views

Are earthworms edible?

Just that. It seemed weird for me not to find anything on Google. But I still think that they might be edible.
Alfergon's user avatar
  • 219
1 vote
0 answers
42 views

What species is this marine invertebrate sighted 2m below the surface near Halifax, NS?

This image was taken at ~2m depth, with a small ROV in Halifax, NS in May. We're in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and as far as I know, don't have gooseneck barnacles. Considering that it may be a ...
hamilthj's user avatar
  • 901
8 votes
1 answer
163 views

strange creature

We live on the Gulf Coast in Corpus Christi, Texas. There was a big thunderstorm that dumped several inches of rain at our home. We live about a quarter of a mile from the bay. My daughter found it ...
Julie's user avatar
  • 81
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why do Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs?

Furthermore, centipedes are within the Myriapoda, a subphylum of arthropods which also contains millipedes. Do millipedes also have an odd number pair of legs?
Single Malt's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
905 views

What is this long, thin and segmented insect I found in my house in India?

Found this inside my house, along the wall, there were few going somewhere few distance from each other. I suspect it is a centipede but didn't found similar images on Google. What is this? Location:...
Bharadwaj's user avatar
  • 163
2 votes
1 answer
973 views

Unknown mite species in plant pots

Does anybody know what kind of mite this is? It is living in my pepper plants' pots. My region is south of Germany. (Baden-Württemberg) I will try to take another picture including some size ...
Icke's user avatar
  • 23
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

What kind of hot pink eggs are these? [duplicate]

I saw a dozen or more clusters of what I think are insect eggs attached to a few vertical sticks protruding from a small pond, and a few more to stalks of grass nearby. Location is in Hsinchu County, ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 5,039
1 vote
0 answers
41 views

Effect of myelination on inteligence in cephalopods

Cephalopods are known for their unique intelligence compared to other invertebrates. The number of neurons of cephalopods is of the order $5*10^8$, similar to dogs. Humans have about $10^{11}$ ...
Qoray's user avatar
  • 133
1 vote
0 answers
112 views

Can anyone please identify this?

We saw this leech like worm in Kerala, India. Can anyone identify it for us? I saw it today, 10th September. It's about 6 to 7 centimeters long. It was very still, didn't move while we went close and ...
Ramya's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
1 answer
245 views

Can prawns and lobsters live out of water for more than six hours? [closed]

I live in Telangana which is a state of India.I like eating Non-vegetarian food.People of our state eat pond fish more comparing to other aquafood.In many places near me,I've seen people cutting alive ...
user's user avatar
  • 140
0 votes
0 answers
17 views

Database for Macroinvertebrate Taxonomy

I compiled different data sets of invertebrate occurrences across some countries and now I want to ensure that all the taxonomic information is homogenized and correct. To this end, I am looking for a ...
JonJup's user avatar
  • 31
0 votes
1 answer
69 views

What is this African bug?

This is an arthropod I found in an apparently abandoned mongoose burrow in the Maasai Mara game reserve, Kenya: That was the best photo I could get of it. From what I could tell, it had six legs and ...
SealBoi's user avatar
  • 231
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

What are these little bugs?

I recently found at least 50 of these little bugs roaming around my window sills indoors in my bedroom right behind the head of my bed. I can’t seem to find what they are. I’d love tips on what they ...
Tayler's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
0 answers
59 views

Why do leeches lose septae due to parasitism?

So I found this piece of information in my textbook without a proper explanation, and I can't seem to find the relation between the two.
user52558's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
215 views

Species identification. Is this a leech?

The pictured creature, shown at the bottom of a glass, was attached to a friend’s child after he was swimming in the Ottawa River today. It stretches out to roughly an inch in length but in this “...
Fo.'s user avatar
  • 123
2 votes
2 answers
283 views

Bug Identification: Tiny Bugs in Fairport NY

We have been finding a ton of these tiny bugs (pin head size or smaller) outside on our patios, outdoor tables, on the grill, etc. What are they and how do we get rid of them?
ritlax9's user avatar
  • 21
0 votes
1 answer
89 views

Want to know about a creature which bite me

I am Sachin from MP India. Few minutes back I have gotten bite by a creature. What is its name? Is it harmful if I got bitten by it? Feeling little pain there.
Sachin's user avatar
  • 1
2 votes
1 answer
171 views

Help with jellyfish species identification

Our research group (Evolutionary Genetics Group, University of Zurich) has received a letter from a special needs child who has kindly asked us to identify three jellyfish species. Unfortunately, the ...
Sam's user avatar
  • 31
1 vote
0 answers
30 views

Carbon Dioxide, sea water, diatoms, and oxygen

I recently viewed a documentary called “Flying River Observed in Tallest Structure in South America, National Geographic” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjpPsZTwsaM). In this film, as an aside, it ...
Gregg Verser's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
673 views

What is the largest species of polychaete?

My Google searches seemed to avail no results. My question is: What is the largest living species in the class Polychaeta? That's about it. I understand that there will be few accessible weights for ...
SealBoi's user avatar
  • 231
4 votes
2 answers
250 views

What is this agglomeration of pink cells I found attached to a stone?

Photo taken in a garden in Singapore. The organism is attached to a stone, close to water. Many of these were there. Size approx 3cm. The shell of this eggs is very soft. When touched, a pink ...
pawel_winzig's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
637 views

What is the reason behind the subphylum name "Urochordata" for tunicates?

There are two major invertebrate subphyla of the chordates (phylum Chordata): Cephalochordata (the lancelets) Urochordata, aka Tunicata (the tunicates) My understanding is that the cephalochordates ...
theforestecologist's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

What are these tiny creatures swimming around my aquarium?

I was checking out my aquarium today, and decided to scoop out a water sample and take a look at it more closely. What I discovered were numerous, very, very tiny white worms (?) swimming around in ...
560812508's user avatar
  • 473
3 votes
1 answer
202 views

Identification of a small flat bug

So for the last few days I have been noticing these small bugs in my bathroom -- they don't appear frequently, and I see them once or twice a month. The characteristics and behavior I observed are as ...
bilal asif mirza's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
134 views

Help in identifying marine specimen?

I came across this specimen which I assume belongs toeither the phylum porifera or to the coelenterata. Can someone please help me identify it? The specimen was found in Ayodhya, India.
Kavya Chandrasekaran's user avatar
23 votes
1 answer
3k views

What are these bladder snail parasites?

I collected some bladder snails several months ago. While checking them out one day, I noticed that they were now infested with worm-like ectoparasites. Appearance and behavior Here's a picture of a ...
560812508's user avatar
  • 473
-1 votes
1 answer
67 views

research on brain-eating amoeba

Are there any alternative treatments for brain-eating amoeba? I've spent about 6 hours trying to find information about this and haven't had any success.
Fanny Sf's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
357 views

What is this underwater creature?

West Bali, about 10 meters deep. Body is roughly 10 cm across. Does not move.
Tom Demeyer's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
58 views

How do insects recognize their host plants?

Many insects, like butterflies have specific host plants on which they feed or lay eggs. While researching about some butterflies, I found that they lay their eggs on certain specific plants and their ...
soumya's user avatar
  • 31
1 vote
0 answers
59 views

What kind of sieve does one use to extract meiofauna?

Suppose I have a core of sediment, and I want to extract the meiofauna from it, in order to study these organisms. According to the sources I could find, this involves using a very fine (e.g. 45 μm) ...
fdgsdg's user avatar
  • 53
1 vote
0 answers
35 views

How did craniates evolve?

Looking at most chordate phylogenetic trees, it seems that we usually have something like this: ...
SealBoi's user avatar
  • 231
1 vote
0 answers
56 views

Looking to identify this species

I found a rather strange invertebrate...something... outside my home this evening, and I have no idea what it might be. It looks kind of like a small brown lobster, without the claws. I think it has 8 ...
asgallant's user avatar
  • 161
5 votes
1 answer
109 views

Anyone know what this it?

More than 1 washed up on a beach in Ireland..close to some big jellyfish
Niall Nelson's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Do hornets remember and recognize a human? Do they have any (kind of) memory?

hornetology So it happens that a hornet (vespa crabro) flew inside my house today and now is being held in a plastic container (I made some holes to let it breathe). But it also happens not just this ...
Lil'Lobster's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Sex determination in cephalopod?

I see some source say octopus do not have sex chromosome. So what's the sex determination mechanism for cephalopods?
A.Z.'s user avatar
  • 39