28 April 2017

Nemertea

"The proboscis is an infolding of the body wall, and sits in the rhynchocoel when inactive. When muscles in the wall of the rhynchocoel compress the fluid in the rhynchocoel, the pressure makes the proboscis jump inside-out to attack the animal's prey along a canal called the rhynchodeum and through an orifice, the proboscis pore. The proboscis has a muscle which attaches to the back of the rhynchocoel, and which can stretch up to 30 times its inactive length and then retract the proboscis.


Some Anopla have branched proboscises which can be described as "a mass of sticky spaghetti".  The animal then draws its prey into its mouth...
Although most are less than 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, one specimen has been estimated at 54 metres (177 ft).

2 comments:

  1. topic drift - maybe delete after saving for a future post?

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/04/a-migrating-butterfly-a-poisonous-plant-and-their-remarkable-coevolution/ A farewell to kings? New ideas on the vanishing monarch butterflies

    I-)

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