Tag Archive for 'Larvacean' | Sci.News

Bathochordaeus charon and its ‘house’ in Monterey Bay: giant larvaceans use their oikoplastic cells to secrete complex filters or ‘houses’ that allow them to concentrate and feed on particles; a ‘house’ consists of a large, diaphanous outer structure as well as a smaller, more convoluted and bi-lobed inner structure that functions as a filter; together these serve to concentrate appropriately-sized food particles from the surrounding water; in situ, larvaceans in the genus Bathochordaeus are often visible from several meters away because their houses may span a meter in longest dimension. Image credit: MBARI.

Mysterious Deep-Sea Animal Rediscovered after 116 Years

Dec 6, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Bathochordaeus charon — an extremely rare species of giant larvacean — has been rediscovered, more than a century after the only previous known...