Salp

Salp
A chain of salps near the surface in the Red Sea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Tunicata
Class: Thaliacea
Order:
Family:
Lahille, 1888
Subfamilies, genera and species[1]

See text

A salp (pl.: salps) or salpa (pl.: salpae or salpas[2]) is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate in the family Salpidae. The salp moves by contracting its gelatinous body in order to pump water through it; it is one of the most efficient examples of jet propulsion in the animal kingdom.[3] The salp feeds on phytoplankton, which it collects by straining water through its internal feeding filters.

  1. ^ "Salpidae". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  2. ^ "salp - Definitions from Dictionary.com". Retrieved 2008-09-28.; Peter Forsskål, in introducing the genus Salpa from waters off Yemen (1763, publication 1775), gave no derivation for his word; the English salp first appeared in 1835 (OED, "salp")
  3. ^ Bone, Q. (1983). "Jet propulsion in salps (Tunicata: Thaliacea)". Journal of Zoology. 201 (4): 481–506. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1983.tb05071.x.
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