The world of salps

Abstract

The salps are small, pelagic, gelatinous invertebrates. They belong to the order Salpida. They could be found in warm seas. Notably, salps are especially common in the Southern Hemisphere. Their bodies are transparent, barrel-shaped, and girdled by muscle bands, and they are open at each end. They move by the way that muscle contractions rapidly expel jets of water from the body and move the animals forward. They are filter feeders, and they consume microscopic planktonic plants and animals. Their life cycle is very complex, with alternating asexual and sexual phases. In the latter phase, long chains of salps individuals are formed. Interestingly, many salps are luminescent.