Exam 33: An Introduction to Invertebrates

Healthy corals are brightly colored because they ________.

Echinoderms show enormous diversity in which of the following traits?

Which characteristic is shared by cnidarians and flatworms?

Use the graph to answer the following question. Which of the following factors, when used to label the horizontal axis of the graph, would account most directly for the shape of the plot?

In Figure 33.2, which two main clades branch from the most recent common ancestor of the eumetazoans?

Use the information to answer the following question. The nontaxonomic term sea slug encompasses a wide variety of marine gastropods. One feature they share as adults is the lack of a shell. One might think, therefore, that they represent defenseless morsels for predators. In fact, sea slugs have multiple defenses. Some sea slugs prey on sponges and concentrate sponge toxins in their tissues. Others feed on cnidarians, digesting everything except the nematocysts, which they then transfer to their own skins. Whereas the most brightly colored sea slugs are often highly toxic, others are nontoxic and mimic the coloration of the toxic species. Their colors are mostly derived from pigments in their prey. There are also sea slugs that use their coloration to blend into their environments. This nudibranch, a type of sea slug, has many reddish cerata on its dorsal surface, as well as two white-tipped rhinophores located on the head. Which structure do sea slugs use to feed on their prey?

Use the following information to answer the question. An elementary school science teacher decided to liven up the classroom with a saltwater aquarium. Knowing that saltwater aquaria can be quite a hassle, the teacher proceeded stepwise. First, the teacher conditioned the water. Next, the teacher decided to stock the tank with various marine invertebrates, including a polychaete, a siliceous sponge, several bivalves, a shrimp, several sea anemones of different types, a colonial hydra, a few coral species, an ectoproct, a sea star, and several herbivorous gastropod varieties. Lastly, she added some vertebrates-a parrot fish and a clown fish. She arranged for daily feedings of copepods and feeder fish. If the teacher wanted to show the students what a lophophore is and how it works, the teacher would point out a feeding ________.

Use the following information to answer the question. An elementary school science teacher decided to liven up the classroom with a saltwater aquarium. Knowing that saltwater aquaria can be quite a hassle, the teacher proceeded stepwise. First, the teacher conditioned the water. Next, the teacher decided to stock the tank with various marine invertebrates, including a polychaete, a siliceous sponge, several bivalves, a shrimp, several sea anemones of different types, a colonial hydra, a few coral species, an ectoproct, a sea star, and several herbivorous gastropod varieties. Lastly, she added some vertebrates-a parrot fish and a clown fish. She arranged for daily feedings of copepods and feeder fish. The bivalves started to die one by one; only the undamaged shells remained. To keep the remaining bivalves alive, the teacher would most likely need to remove the ________.

Use the following information to answer the question. An elementary school science teacher decided to liven up the classroom with a saltwater aquarium. Knowing that saltwater aquaria can be quite a hassle, the teacher proceeded stepwise. First, the teacher conditioned the water. Next, the teacher decided to stock the tank with various marine invertebrates, including a polychaete, a siliceous sponge, several bivalves, a shrimp, several sea anemones of different types, a colonial hydra, a few coral species, an ectoproct, a sea star, and several herbivorous gastropod varieties. Lastly, she added some vertebrates-a parrot fish and a clown fish. She arranged for daily feedings of copepods and feeder fish. Normally, the clown fish readily swims among the tentacles of the sea anemones; the parrot fish avoids them. One hypothesis for the clown fish's apparent immunity is that they slowly build a tolerance to the sea anemone's toxin. A second hypothesis is that a chemical in the mucus that coats the clown fish prevents the nematocysts from being triggered. Which of the following graphs supports the first, but not the second, of these hypotheses?

Use the following information and figures to answer the question. Many terrestrial arthropods exchange gases with their environments by using tracheae, tubes that lead from openings (called spiracles) in the animal's exoskeleton or cuticle directly to the animal's tissues. Some arthropods can control whether their spiracles are opened or closed; opening the spiracles allows the carbon dioxide produced in the tissues to travel down the tracheae and be released outside the animal. Klok et al. measured the carbon dioxide emitted over time (represented by ⱽCO₂) by several species of centipedes. The figures present graphs of their results for two species, Cormocephalus morsitans and Scutigerina weberi. Look at the graph for Cormocephalus morsitans in the figure. What is the best interpretation of these results?

Use the following information to answer the question. An elementary school science teacher decided to liven up the classroom with a saltwater aquarium. Knowing that saltwater aquaria can be quite a hassle, the teacher proceeded stepwise. First, the teacher conditioned the water. Next, the teacher decided to stock the tank with various marine invertebrates, including a polychaete, a siliceous sponge, several bivalves, a shrimp, several sea anemones of different types, a colonial hydra, a few coral species, an ectoproct, a sea star, and several herbivorous gastropod varieties. Lastly, she added some vertebrates-a parrot fish and a clown fish. She arranged for daily feedings of copepods and feeder fish. One day, Tommy, a student in an undersupervised class of 40 fifth graders, got the urge to pet Nemo (the clown fish), who was swimming among the waving petals of a pretty underwater "flower" that had a big hole in the midst of the petals. Tommy giggled upon finding that these petals felt sticky. A few hours later, Tommy was in the nurse's office with nausea and cramps. Microscopic examination of his fingers would probably have revealed the presence of ________.

Imagine that you are a research chemist who wishes to develop a chemical adhesive that will work under water. Which of the following organisms might give you a clue about where to start?

Soft-shell crab is a prized dish in many ocean-side resorts. Why are the crabs' shells soft?

One should expect to find cilia associated with the feeding apparatus of ________.

Use the following information to answer the question. Nudibranchs, a type of predatory sea slug, can have various protuberances (that is, extensions) on their dorsal surfaces. Rhinophores are paired structures, located close to the head, which bear many chemoreceptors. Dorsal plumules, usually located posteriorly, perform respiratory gas exchange. Cerata usually cover much of the dorsal surface and contain nematocysts at their tips. The spiracles and tracheae of insects have a function most similar to that of ________.

What would be the most direct effect of removing or damaging an insect's antennae? The insect would have trouble ________.

What would be the best anatomical feature to look for to distinguish a gastropod from a chiton?

Use the following information to answer the question. A farm pond, usually dry during winter, has plenty of water and aquatic pond life during the summer. One summer, Sarah returns to the family farm from college. Observing the pond, she is fascinated by some six-legged organisms that can crawl about on submerged surfaces or, when disturbed, seemingly "jet" through the water. Watching further, she is able to conclude that the "mystery organisms" are ambush predators, and their prey includes everything from insects to small fish and tadpoles. Sarah observed that the mystery pond organisms never come up to the pond's surface. If she catches one of these organisms and observes closely, perhaps dissecting the organism, she should find ________.

You find a multi-legged animal in your garden and want to determine if it is a centipede or a millipede. You take the animal to a university where a myriapodologist quickly tells you that you have found a centipede. Which of the following traits may have allowed her to make this distinction?

Use the following information to answer the question. An elementary school science teacher decided to liven up the classroom with a saltwater aquarium. Knowing that saltwater aquaria can be quite a hassle, the teacher proceeded stepwise. First, the teacher conditioned the water. Next, the teacher decided to stock the tank with various marine invertebrates, including a polychaete, a siliceous sponge, several bivalves, a shrimp, several sea anemones of different types, a colonial hydra, a few coral species, an ectoproct, a sea star, and several herbivorous gastropod varieties. Lastly, she added some vertebrates-a parrot fish and a clown fish. She arranged for daily feedings of copepods and feeder fish. The teacher and class were especially saddened when the colonial hydrozoan died. They had watched it carefully, and the unfortunate creature never even got to produce offspring by budding. Yet, everyone was elated when one of the students noticed a small colonial hydrozoan growing in a part of the tank far from the location of the original colony. The teacher was apparently unaware that these hydrozoans exhibit ________.