Salp. Individual salp, Salpa maxima, a type of tunicate. S. maxima is largely translucent and pumps its way through the water by taking fluid into its

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Salp. Individual salp, Salpa maxima, a type of tunicate. S. maxima is largely translucent and pumps its way through the water by taking fluid into its mouth (at right) and expelling it through its anus. Salps are filter feeders, removing microscopic plankton from the upper levels of the world's oceans. They grow up to 6 centimetres long and are often connected in chains up to 25 metres long. They are chordates, creatures in which part of the life cycle contains a nerve cord, a primitive spinal cord.

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Photo credit: © SINCLAIR STAMMERS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, maxima, nature, salp, salpa, tunicate, urochordata, wildlife, zoology