popsealife:Tiny glass rocketships?Nope, just the larval form of sea urchins, called a pluteus (plura
popsealife:Tiny glass rocketships?Nope, just the larval form of sea urchins, called a pluteus (plural: plutei).The pluteus swims and feeds using ciliated bands located on its arms and body (the pluteus’ arms are those projections that form the rocketship’s “base”). The pluteus serves as both a larval form and a sort of vehicle for the urchin. Over the course of several days, an urchin will begin to grow and develop inside the pluteus.Then, when the time is right, the tiny rocketship will land onto an appropriate substrate (usually covered with algae and bacteria), and the young urchin will break out. The pluteus tissues then degenerate and are discarded or absorbed by the growing urchin. Video source: Plankton ChroniclesReference: Hinegardner. 1969 Mazur and Miller. 1971. -- source link
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