Girdle Wearers: Loricifera - Physical Characteristics, Behavior And Reproduction, Bucket-tailed Loriciferan (rugiloricus Cauliculus): Species Account - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, GIRDLE WEARERS AND PEOPLE, CONSERVATION STATUS
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Girdle wearers live all over the world.
Girdle wearers live in the sea at all depths. They are common around the North Pole and the South Pole, especially in the deep sea. Girdle wearers live in the spaces between sand grains or in mud.
Girdle wearers eat algae and bacteria. Algae (AL-jee) are plantlike growths that live in water and have no true roots, stems, or leaves.
Scientists may be able to use girdle wearers as indicators of pollution.
Girdle wearers are not considered threatened or endangered.
Additional Topics
Girdle wearers attach themselves to sand or mud with a kind of glue made by glands located toward the rear of adults and on the toes of larvae. Larvae (LAR-vee) are animals in an early stage that change form before becoming adults. Adults crawl by using their spines and their mouth cones. The mouth cone telescopes out to its full length, fastens itself to a sand grain, and then draws in again so t…
Physical characteristics: Adult bucket-tailed loriciferans (LAW-ruh-SIH-fuh-ruhns) are 0.007 to 0.01 inch (180 to 264 micrometers) long. The head has nine rows of spines. The armored band has 60 folds. The anal (AY-nuhl) cone is pointed. Geographic range: Bucket-tailed loriciferans live off the coast of North Carolina and South Carolina, United States; in the Mediterranean Sea; and around a small …
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