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A group of pteropods.

A group of pteropods.
A group of pteropods.
A group of pteropods.
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257005
Copley, Nancy
A group of pteropods.
Still Image
10/29/2013
pteropods-1_311873.jpg
Caption from Oceanus online:
These marine snails are also called sea butterflies because of their winglike swimming appendages. Masses of pteropods drift with currents in the open ocean, where they provide food for fish and whales. Like garden snails, their earthbound relatives, pteropods build calcium carbonate shells. But pteropods thin, fragile shells may be vulnerable to the oceans changing chemistry. At WHOI, biologists Gareth Lawson and Amy Maas have championed pteropods, investigating how these beautiful creatures and key links in the food chain will be affected by ocean acidification, comparing pteropods in ocean regions with normal acidity and regions already showing acidification. Lawson also collaborated with sculptor Cornelia Kavanaugh, whose sculptures of pteropods were recently seen at the Smithsonian Institution.
Image Of the Day caption:
These marine snails are called pteropods (from the Greek words meaning "wing foot") or sea butterflies because of their winglike swimming appendages. Masses of pteropods drift with currents in the open ocean, providing food for fish and whales. Like garden snails, pteropods build calcium carbonate shells. But pteropods thin, fragile shells may be vulnerable to the oceans changing chemistry. At WHOI, biologists Gareth Lawson and Amy Maas have championed studies of pteropods to investigate how these beautiful creatures and other links in the food chain will be affected by ocean acidification.
Photo by Nancy Copley
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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