EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Nemertea are soft and unsegmented animals (Figure 1). A unique characteristic of this phylum is the presence of a proboscis enclosed in a rhynchocoel. The proboscis serves to capture food and may be ornamented with barbs in some species.

Detailed explanation-2: -Ocean-dwelling Ribbon Worms can grow longer than a blue whale, making them the world’s longest animal. These predators overwhelm their prey by shooting out a proboscis, a venomous spaghetti-like appendage that wraps around and kills prey.

Detailed explanation-3: -The proboscis apparatus of these animals is unique to the phylum. The proboscis is an elongate, eversible, blind tube, surrounded by the rhynchocoel (a fluid filled, hydrostatic cavity) and additional muscle layers, including the proboscis retractor muscle at the posterior wall of the rhynchocoel.

Detailed explanation-4: -Most nemerteans are carnivores, feeding on annelids, clams and crustaceans. Some species of nemerteans are scavengers, and a few live commensally inside the mantle cavity of molluscs.