Shrimp
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
| Shrimp |
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| Scientific Classification |
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| Superfamiles |
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Shrimp are aquatic animals belonging to the taxonomic infraorder Caridea. perhaps best known as a gourmet food. There are thousands of different species in the world. Some live in fresh water, and some live in salt water. Shrimp vary in size from a small fraction of an inch to 9 inches long. [1]
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Anatomy
No Shrimp have backbones; scientists call them invertebrates. Since they do not have backbones to support their bodies, in the surface of their skins, they have hard exoskeltons, which are thin, smooth, and almost transparent. That makes it hard for predators to distinguish them from the background. Their bodies are divided into three main parts: head, thorax and abdomen. [2] They have 5 pairs of swimming legs (swimmerets) on the abdomen, 5 pairs of walking legs, and 3 pairs of maxillipeds which help them feed. Some shrimp have a pair of pincers, which are a part of their walking legs, to catch prey or defend themselves from predators. They also have two pairs of antennae that contain sense organs for touch and taste, a tail fan to swim faster, and compound eyes that help them see in the water and detect predators.[3]
Reproduction
Before shrimp mate, the female molts her hard exoskeleton and her body becomes soft. The male fertilizes the female's eggs. Female carries the mass of eggs for 24 hours and then spawns. They lay hundreds of thousands to millions of eggs. When the larvae are hatched from the eggs, they go to the bottom of the sea to live. Some shrimp die after they give birth, but others can live for 6 or 7 years. [4]
Ecology
Shrimp are omnivorous scavangers, that usually consume coral, plants, microscopic organisms, or dead animals. They help reduce water pollution by eating the dead organisms in the water. Salt water shrimp live close to the bottom of the sea to eat dead organisms and coral, or live in the midwater to eat plankton.[5]
They use maxillipeds to eat the food. Many of them live their life alone, but some species live in large groups and the whole group moves together like a single animal. Because their small bodies lack protective body parts, they are easilly eaten by many different kinds of predators, such as fish, birds, octopi, and even giant whales filter the water and eat shrimp.[6] However, shrimp have high resistance to toxins made by humans, so when they eat food that has high levels of toxins, they may pass those toxins to the animals who eat them.[7] Also people catch them in seas or lakes; they use shrimp in various ways. People farm shrimp, eat them, and sometimes sell them as pets. [8]
Other
There are really interesting kinds of shrimps in the world. Pistol shrimp is very interesting because of their action to eat the prey. They have a pair of pincers and they make the clanging noises to the prey and they instantly stun or kill the prey. Cleaner shrimps are very interesting; they move to attract to the fish and when the fish sees it and comes to the shrimp, and the shrimp goes into its gill or the mouth to get out of debris and eat it. It is the symbiotic relationship between two species and it is how they live. Some of the deep-sea shrimps have lack of lights and they have the light-producing organs called photophores. People think they produce light to attract other mates in the dark sea. [9]
Gallery
 Grass Shrimps |
 snapping shrimp |
 california freshwater shrimp |
 Spot prawn |
 Pink Shrimp |
 Brown Shrimp |
 White Shrimp |
 Red Shrimp |
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References
- Shrimp's anatomy and diet many authors, many publisher, Copyright 1996-2007 .
- Shrimp Anatomy and reproduction unknown author,unknown publisher, copyright 2008.
- Biology of shrimp museum victoria, museum victoria, established in 1983.
See also
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