Quick learn Inverts for test

Bispira volutacornis

- Approximately 10 cm with 3 cm fan diameter

- Two retractile spiral branchial crowns

- The tube of the fan worm is made up of a silt- mucoid outer layer and usually has either a green, purple or brown colouration

Eupolymnia nebulosa

- Up to 25 cm long

- Body yellowish or orange with white markings and the tentacles are milky white

- Long and tubular, with many long tentacles at one end

- Usually only tentacles show

Hermodice carunculata

- Reaches a length of 35cm and the thickness of a

finger

- Varies in colour from green to red with tufts of bristles which causes severe irritation not unlike a bad burn when touched.

- Feeds on many invertebrates such as anemones and also any dead animal on the bottom of the sea. Also known as fireworm

- It has hollow bristles along each side which are filled with venom and if disturbed, the bristles become flared so that they become more exposed.

- The setae can easily break off and penetrate flesh if touched, with the venom causing an intense burning irritation

Myxicola infundibulum

- Up to 20 cm long.

- Usually pale purple or greyish-white in colour.

- Tube rarely protrudes above ground level.

- Has about 60 tentacles

Protula tubularia

- Fan is normally around 50mm in diameter.

- The most common tube worm.

- Has a white or pale cream tube. The fan ranges in colour from orange to red.

- Body has 120 posterior segments

- The head is reduced and has two gill lobes, each with 20- 45 white or pinkish spiralled tentacles in two rows

- It has paired red blotches and numerous eyespots

Sabella pavonina

- Up to 30 cm long and up to 4mm wide

- Tube projects 10cm above surface

- Crown is composed of two semi- circular red, purple or white with dark striped lobes joined at the base with a membrane

- The body is orange to dull purple

- The tube is constructed from mud and sand particles held together with mucus

- Body divided into 100-600 segments

Sabella spallanzanii

- The biggest tube worm in the Mediterranean,

up to 40cm.

- Has an easily identifiable double tiger-like spiral

crown.

- The tube of the worm is semi-hardened mucus, which is secreted by the worm as it grows.

- It is often covered by many small organisms and becomes wrinkled towards the base

Bonellia viridis

- Females 1.5m, males 3mm

- Female body is walnut sized and covered with papillae

- Proboscis only extended at night when the two lobes at the end collect organic particles from the bottom.

- Can reach 100 cm

Calcinus tubularis

- Up to 9mm in length

- Body colour red but the end of the legs white with red points.

- Can be found inhabiting empty shells, tubes of annelids and in holes made in rocks by the perforant spongi.

- Beneath the eyes are 2 pairs of antennae, the first pair being blue in colour and the pair beneath that being long and striped red and white

Clibanarius erythropus

- Carapace length 15mm

- Body colour is a greenish-brown and the antennas and legs are red or orange.

- Prefers shells of Cerithium and O. turbinatus

Pagurus anachoretus

- Up to 3 cm

- Tentacles grow up to 12mm

- Overall colour is brown with white stripes, the legs and claws have blue irregular spots, depending on the individuals they highlight the claws.

- The eyes of this species are a distinctive green colour

Dardanus arrosor

- Up to 8 cm

- Colour varies from bright red to bright orange

- Short eyestalks, red and white striped

- Blue-green eyes

- Claws are covered in small hair, with the left claw generally more developed

Cinetorhynchus rigens

- Up to 10 cm

- Elongated body

- Milky colour with red patterns covering its body

- Black eyes with pink pupil nocturnal

Lysmata seticaudata

- Up to 7 cm

- Elongated red coloured body, with bright red streaks from head to tail

- Has bright blue spots on its back

- Black eyes

Palaemon elegans

- Up to 6 cm

- One of the few shrimp active during the day

- Has a variable pattern of golden spots and dark stripes on the transparent body

Palaemon serratus

- Up to 11 cm

- P. serratus can be distinguished from P. elegans by the shape of its rostrum and the number of dorsal and ventral rostral teeth

- Long and denticulate face with a transparent body

- Its body is translucent with red/brown lines, which on the carapace are horizontal or oblique and are vertical on the abdomen

Percnon gibbesi

- Carapace about 4 cm

- Very thin carapace

- Long flattened legs

- Brown with red lines and yellow circles close to articulations

- Invasive species (most invasive decapod crustacean), as native in America, may compete for habitat with Pachygrapsusmarmoratus and Eriphia verrucosa

Maja crispata

- Carapace ranges from 8-10cm

- Reddish coloration usually covered by algae, large and oval carapace with lateral spines.

- Smaller spines cover the entire dorsal surface.

- Can be characterised by its long slender pereopods (walking legs), the first pair being chelate, and its pear shaped carapace.

Scyllarides latus

- Up to 45cm long with a shell width of 12cm

- Brown and reddish body which is typically flat and robust with a large tail which is covered in thick granules and short hairs.

- Antenna have transformed into smooth plates.

Balanus perforatus

- Up to 1 cm, usually form large colonies

- Grey or white colour

- The larvae settles and builds a conical house

around itself

- Shell consists of a ring of overlapping calcareous plates

- Filter feeding at night

- Penis 20x the size of its body

Electra posidoniae

- Each zooid is about 0.5mm in length

- Epiphyte Encrusting, calcareous elongated colonies formed by flattened zooids running up Posidonia leaves

- The frontal membrane is oval shaped and bordered by spines, the mid proximal spine often being considerably longer than the rest.

- One third of the frontal surface is heavily calcified with very few pores

Anemonia viridis

- Span of tentacles up to 20cm

- Base up to 7cm

- Up to 200 tentacles which range from olive green to white with violet tips, found in large colonies.

- Symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae live in the anemone and contain chlorophyll which gives the anemone its green colour

- Does have a sting but can't penetrate the skin; however, can severely irritate eyes and mouth

Balanophylia europaea

- Fairly common up to 1.5cm height,

- Diameter up to 2.5cm

- Common scleractinian coral endemic to the Mediterranean

- Solitary

Alagophenia sp.

- Typically up to 10cm

- Difficult to identify organisms to species level they produce fern or feather-like groups

Eudendrium racemosum

- Up to 12 cm high

- High growth rate, maximum population during summer (as lives in temperate areas) and minimal density during winter

- Form colonies (on average more than 250 polyps per colony)

Halocordyle distincha

- Up to 5 cm tall

- Green to brown "stem" with bright white beads along the branches

- Has a crude appearance of a tree with a central stem and smaller stems branching off at regular intervals

- Form colonies/ Bright white beads cover branches

Astropecten aranciacus

- Maximum diameter recorded was 55 centimetres however usual size is 30cm

- Reddish orange colour at middle moving to yellowish or white at arm tip

- Medium sized central disk with long pointed arms

long spines along its inferomarginal plates

Astropecten spinulosus

- Max size is 10 cm in diameter

- Brown, reddish brown and sometimes greenish colour

- Inferomarginal spines are long and pointed

- May have a touch of blue

- Wide central area with 5 wide limbs extending at even intervals

Echinaster sepositus

- Usually diameter of 20 cm but can be up to 30 cm

- Red or Red-orange colour

- 5 slender arms around a small central disc

- Soapy texture distinguishes it from Hacelia attenuata

- Surface is dotted with evenly spaced pores

Ophidiaster ophidianus

- Can grow up to 50 cm

- Brightly coloured ranging from red to orange and dark purple

- 5 long cylindrical, blunt tipped arms

- Rough texture

- Each side of the arms has a double row of short blunt spines and a single row of "club shaped" spines

Abracia lixula

- Generally around 10-15 cm

- Black colour

- Thick spines often between 3-5cm long and positions regularly

- Has a flattened test

Diadema setosum

- Test up to 10cm, spines up to 30cm

- Black test, long and narrow spines (black, white or banded black and white), mildly venomous

- 5 characteristic white dots on its body

- Presence of an orange ring around the sea urchins periprotcal cone

- Invasive species

Paracentrotus lividus

- Generally around 10-15 cm

- Purple, green, brown or black colour

- Slightly small spines compared to test size, not arranged as neatly, may cross each other

- May cover themselves in debris due to tube feet with suckers on backside

Sphaerechinus granularis

- Up to 20 cm in diameter

- Test is purple, spines may be tipped with white

- Uniform short length

- They are blunt and arranged neatly in rows

- Often covers itself in algae and shell fragments

Holothuria poli

- Can grow up to 20cm

- Brown colour with very small white spots at irregular intervals along body

- Cylindrical in shape with a flattened bottom

- May have small spines along surface however much less obvious than Holothuria tubulosa

Holothuria sanctori

- Grow up to 30cm

- Brown-orange/dark brown colour

- Often with large white spots along its body

- Cylindrical with a flattened base

- Sprays copious amounts of sticky threads when provoked

Holothuria tubulosa

- Usually between 20 cm and 45 with a diameter of 6

- From black to a brownish-grey colour, belly usually lighter

- Roughly cylindrical with a flattened base

- Tough, leathery skin

- Has thorn like projections at irregular intervals down body

Synaptula reciprocans

- 40-50cm in length

- Dark-brown to black elongated body

- Mouth surrounded by tentacles

- Species distribution highly depends on the water currents

- Invasive species

Pinna rudis

- Smaller than Pinna nobilis

- Fan-Shaped

- Translucent and Pinkish-Orange

- Low, broad, rounded ribs with scaly projections

interior with nacreous (shiny) layer,

Pinna nobilis

- The shell can be up to 1m long

- Triangular equivalve with a rounded dorsal side tapering to a point that is buried vertically in the sand.

- Scaly structure is seen on younger shells, which is worn or eroded in older individuals.

- It is the biggest bivalve in the Mediterranean

Loligo vulgaris

- 75cm in length, maximum weight of 1.5kg

- Tapering muscular body ending in a triangular lateral fins, has a small head with eight arms and two extendable tentacles.

- Arms have two rows of suckers and tentacles have four rows on the tips.

- Has the ability to mimic colours.

Octopus vulgaris

- Usually measures around 70cm but may reach a maximum of 3m

- Large globular head with two developed eyes is distinct from the rest of the body.

- Eight tentacles with double rows of suckers form the body.

- The skin can emit protuberances of different size and aspect resulting in well-developed mimicry behaviour.

Sepia officinalis

- 40cm in length, tentacles can double this, approximately 2kg in weight

- Oval shaped with a well developed head and a prominent dorsal lobe between the eyes.

- Attached to the head are 8 arms with 4 rows of suckers.

- The flat body is surrounded by an undulating fin used for swimming

Felimare picta

- Up to 13cm (one of the largest species of chromodorididae in Europe)

- Usually dark blue, sometimes pale blue, smaller species have the edge of their mantle white and a yellow band in the middle of the back

- Elongated body, quite narrow mantle feeds on sponges (genus Dysidea)

Cerithium sp

- Maximum length 7cm

- Easy to identify at genus level due to elongated body shape but difficult for individual species