#salpida

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

For the salp, sex is less of an immutable part of their biology and more like a hot potato. In their aggregate stage, these invertebrates attach together in chains. When an female chain has been fertilized by a male chain, each member will give birth an asexual offspring called an oozooid, which can later release tens of thousands of young which will grow up to aggregate together again. In the meantime, after giving birth the original fertilized aggregate salp becomes male, and will seek out a female to mate with.

(Image: A thin-sailed salp (Thetys vagina) by Mike Stukel)

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

Requesting sea salps!All salps!All members of the salpidae family!

Have you seen a salp (Family: Salpidae)?

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Yes, irl

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Voting ended onApr 28

The first image is of a common salp in its oozooid stage, the second is and aggregate of blastozooids, who are members of the species Soestia zonaria.

[moonycore]

[Image ID: a vertical chain of small, gelatinous animals called sea salps floating in the ocean. Each salp is nearly transparent except for the gut, visible from the outside. End ID]

[animalids]

Twin-sailed salp (Thetys vagina)

Photo by Marlin Harms

[moonycore]

[Image ID: a chain of sea salps; small, gelatinous animals floating near a coral bed. Each salp is nearly transparent, except for their innards. Some fish swim nearby. End ID]

[astronomy-to-zoology]

The Salp Lifecycle

a chain of chains

As you may or may not know a salp is a type of planktonic tunicate belonging to the order Salpida. Salps unlike their sea squirt relatives are free moving and move through the water by pumping water through their body. What really makes salps stand out is their unique two-generation lifestyle. The first portion of the salps life is a solitary one where the animal is simply an asexual barrel shape called an oozoid. The second stage called an aggregate occurs when an oozoid reproduces. When said oozoid reproduces the second animal remains attached to the other forming a blastozooid, these two animals will swim and feed and reproduce with each other. Eventually these paired individuals turn into a great chain of hundreds of salps. Unlike the oozoid form the chain of blastozooids reproduce sexually and create oozoids that will eventually form a chain of their own.

Further Reading

Video source