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In this extract from " Into the Great Wide Ocean : spirit in the Least lie with Habitat on Earth " ( Princeton University Press , 2024 ) , authorSönke Johnsenlooks at dinner in the deep , where creatures living in the unresolved ocean have evolved eldritch ways to feed — and to stave off getting eat in an ecosystem where there is nowhere to shroud .
As the marine life scientist Peter Herring say , we catch " only the slow , the stupid , the avid , and the indestructible . "
Sea angels — a type of swimming slug — that live in the open ocean are carnivorous little creatures that have evolved to feed on sea snails.
But beneath the surface , an ancient , complex , and very serious game is going on . The trouble of finding food for thought have led to some novel eating strategies . Many oceanic animals track down their prey and rust them , much like you ’d imagine a king of beasts would : chasing down an animal and bite it until it dies . But I ’d like to focalize on the creature that do affair differently from those on land .
Imagine a world where the only food is the dust that sparkles in the good morning sunbeams of your house . This detritus is in fact nourishing , some of it being flakes of your own dead skin , but you ’d go wild trying to pick it out of the aura with your hand or backtalk . What you could do , though , is get a great public square of fine windowpane screen and take the air through your house , holding it in front of you . You ’d have to be careful about the internet . If it ’s too common , the skin oddball would go through . If it ’s too all right , not enough air will go through , and the skin flake will reverberate away . But if you get it right , you finally get a prissy coating of junk on your screen door that you could then lick off .
This is basically what many oceanic animals do . They create a CRT screen and use it to trap tiny particles out of the water . The animals on the seafloor , such as the relatives of starfish called " feather stars " and a delicious group of fauna known as " feather smock worms , " do this as well and often have the advantage of being stationary in a stream .
Given the empty nature of much of the pelagic urine column , it ’s perhaps not surprising that certain animals have evolved to use up ever - small thing , since smaller things lean to be more abundant . Particularly gripping are the larva of eels — which , obstinate to pop depiction , do n’t look anything like the grownup . or else , they count like recollective lucid leaves : extremely flat , with diminutive head . How do they get nutrient ? Upon investigation of their digestive tract , some researcher trust they in reality absorb nutrient through their tegument . They later utilize the vim they store to fuel their metamorphosis into full-grown glass eel .
Another gripping but unusual eating method acting can be found in the gymosomes . Although from the exterior these animate being are cute little poke with offstage , often with evocative name like " sea angels , " inside their head is a Swiss - US Army - tongue exercise set of contraptions that are conform to get their favorite fair game out of its shell . Clione limacina , for model , first grabs theLimacinasnail with a twain of indulgent tentacle . It uses these tentacles to maneuver the escargot into just the right position . Then , long , sharp hooks are force out of sacs on its head ( this is known as " eversion " ) . These maulers — much like cocktail forks — can turn over far enough into the case of theLimacinato extract the easygoing body out .
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As hard as it can be to regain and capture food in the overt sea , it is just as arduous to avoid becoming food . In an environs where food for thought is scarce , where there is nowhere to hide , and where the predator are probably fast than you are , most animals must find new ways to protect themselves .
One can , of course , develop to become larger , and it ’s possible to imagine a dinosaur - like evolutionary arm slipstream where pelagic animals get big and faster . But this is not common . Yes , there are whales , sharks , and some great and brawny fish and squid , but the majority of specie in the undecided ocean do not look to be evolving to increase in size of it .
Some animals protect themselves by being toxic or venomous , or only taste dread . But if you ca n’t run , you ca n’t fight , and you ’re tasty , all that is left to do is cover . This include hiding in the dark or hide in homely good deal by look like water . The honest way to do that : be transparent and let the setting twinkle pass through you as if you were n’t there . The animals in the pelagic realm are playing a serious secret plan .
accommodate fromInto the Great Wide Ocean : lifetime in the Least Known Habitat on Earth . right of first publication © 2013 by Sönke Johnsen . reprint by license of Princeton University Press .
Into the Great Wide Ocean : liveliness in the Least Known Habitat on Earth
Sönke Johnsen vividly key how life in the water editorial of the open sea debate with a host of environmental challenges , such as soberness , drift , the absence of twinkle , imperativeness that could oppress a truck , catching food while not becoming food , find a mate , raise young , and forming communities . He interweave stories about the joys and hardships of the scientists who search this beautiful and mysterious realm , which is under threat from human activity and rapidly changing before our eyes .
