Salp 1932886 202908476 2008-04-02T22:34:44Z Pgan002 54984 /* Nervous systems and relationships */ copy-edit {{Taxobox | name = Salpida | image = Salp (tunicate).jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = Salp | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordata]] | subphylum = [[Urochordata]] | classis = [[Thaliacea]] | ordo = '''Salpida''' | familia = '''Salpidae''' }} [[Image:Salp.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A string of salp in the [[Red Sea]]]] A '''salp''' is a barrel-shaped, free-floating [[tunicate]]. It moves by contracting, thus pumping water through its gelatinous body. The salp strains the pumped water and feeds on [[phytoplankton]]. ==Distribution== ''Salps'' are common in [[equator|equatorial]] seas, where they float on their faces, alone or in long, stringy [[colony (biology)|colonies]]. The most abundant concentrations of salps are in the [[Southern Ocean]]. Here they sometimes form enormous swarms, often in deep water, and are sometimes even more abundant than [[krill]]. In the last century, while krill populations in the Southern Ocean declined, salp populations appear to be increasing. One reason for the success of salps is how they respond to [[phytoplankton]] [[algal bloom|bloom]]s. When there is plenty of food, salps can quickly bud off [[Cloning|clones]], which graze the phytoplankton and can grow at a rate which is probably faster than any other [[multicellular]] animal, quickly stripping the phytoplankton from the sea. But if the phytoplankton is too dense, the salps can clog and sink to the bottom. During these blooms, beaches can become slimy with mats of salp bodies, and other [[plankton]]ic species can experience fluctuations in their numbers due to competition with the salps. Sinking [[feces|fecal]] pellets and bodies of salps carry [[carbon]] to the sea floor, and salps are abundant enough to have an impact on the ocean's [[biological pump]]. Consequently, large changes in their abundance or distribution may alter the ocean's [[carbon cycle]], and potentially play a role in [[climate change]]. <!-- Unsourced image removed: <gallery> Image:salps.jpg|Picture of a lone Salp </gallery> --> ==Nervous systems and relationships== Salps are related to [[doliolida]] and [[pyrosoma]]. Although salps appear similar to [[jellyfish]] because of the simple form of their bodies and their free-floating way of life, they are structurally most closely related to [[vertebrate]]s, animals with true [[backbone]]s. Salps appear to have a form preliminary to vertebrates, and are used as a starting point in models of how vertebrates evolved. Scientists speculate that the tiny groups of nerves in salps are one of the first instances of a primitive [[nervous system]], which eventually evolved into the more complex [[central nervous system]]s of vertebrates. Studies on salp brains have been done by Thurston Lacalli and Linda Z. Holland and published in ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.'' ==Classification== *Order '''Salps''' '''Salpida''' **Family '''Salpidae''' *** Genus ''[[Cyclosalpa]]'' **** ''[[Cyclosalpa affinis]]'' **** ''[[Cyclosalpa bakeri]]'' **** ''[[Cyclosalpa foxtoni]]'' Van Soest, 1974 **** ''[[Cyclosalpa pinnata]]'' *** Genus ''[[Iasis]]'' **** ''[[Iasis zonaria]]'' *** Genus ''[[Ihlea]]'' Metcalf, 1919 **** ''[[Ihlea racovitzai]]'' (van Beneden, 1913) *** Genus ''[[Pegea]]'' Savigny, 1816 **** ''[[Pegea confederata]]'' (Forskal, 1775) *** Genus ''[[Salpa (genus)|Salpa]]'' Forskål, 1775 **** ''[[Salpa cylindrica]]'' **** ''[[Salpa fusiformis]]'' **** ''[[Salpa maxima]]'' **** ''[[Salpa thompsoni]]'' (Foxton, 1961) **** ''[[Salpa tilsicostata]]'' *** Genus ''[[Thalia (animal)|Thalia]]'' **** ''[[Thalia democratica]]'' *** Genus ''[[Thetys (Genus)|Thetys]]'' Tilesius, 1802 **** ''[[Thetys vagina]]'' Tilesius, 1802 == External links == * [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/10/09/sludge_of_slimy_organisms_coats_beaches_of_new_england/ Sludge of slimy organisms coats beaches of New England Boston Globe October 9, 2006] * [http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/thaliacea.html The salps on earthlife.net] * [http://jellieszone.com/tunicates.htm Pelagic tunicates (including salps)] * [http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/origins_of_the_brain.htm The role of salps in the study of origin of the vertebrate brain] * [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060702085004.htm Jellyfish-like Creatures May Play Major Role In Fate Of Carbon Dioxide In The Ocean], ScienceDaily.com, July 2, 2006 * [http://www.livescience.com/environment/060720_jelly_creatures.html "Ocean 'Gummy Bears' Fight Global Warming"], LiveScience.com, July 20, 2006 [[Category:Tunicates]] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7014503.stm How salps might help counteract global warming] BBC News, September 26, 2007 [[de:Salpen]] [[es:Salpidae]] [[fa:سالپ]] [[fr:Salpida]]