Poultry, Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences
Open Access

A Short Note on Sea Lilies

Han Xu^{* *}Correspondence: Han Xu, Department of Aquaculture, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, United Kingdom, Email:

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Description

Sea Lilies resemble a plant more than animal. Sea lilies are some of the most attractive but less known animals than deep oceans. Sea lilies are members of the Crinoidea class (Phylum Echinodermata), a class that includes feather stars. The lilies are also linked to early echinoderms, as sea urchins, starfish and marine cucumbers. However, unlike these small forms and sessions, however, the main body of a Sea lily is composed of an extended and thin stem that is generally anchored by a simple arrangement of arms in the form of a root. The main body, which has a connected appearance, can reach up to 27.5 inch (70 cm) in length, but most of the living species is much smaller. Some fossil species have been discovered with a stem up to 82 feet or 25 m, long. Some marine lilies have a branched structure, while others are simple and straight in design. Marine lilies vary considerably color, but most are delicate tones of yellow, pink or red.

The main part of the body, the calyx, is performed at the top of the stem, rather like a crown. This contains the main bodies of the body and develops even more with a series of 510 feather arms. The number of weapons seems to vary with water temperature: some of the larger and tropical species can have up to 200 arms. Each arm is further adorned with a large number of delicate pinnals that, when extending, increase the area available to capture food. When the animal is not feeding, or if the arms are in danger of being eaten by a predatory fish or crustacean then the arms may be gets folded and the entire crown will be withdrawn. The mouth is on the central disc at the base of these arms. The arms and pinnules together trap refined food particles from swirling water currents. Small furrows on the surface of each pinnule lead to larger grooves on the main arm, like the currents binding to a river and continue to cross the calyx surface to the mouth.

Instead of being composed of living tissue, much of the body is made up of calcium carbonate, which provides a rigid frame that supports the animal's head. Within this protective reinforcement, the real movements of the sea lily are limited to a simple flex, unlike the movements of the feather stars, which are mobile and can pass from secure places to a site exhibited for food purposes.

Until recently, most sea lilies were known only for fossil remains. These species seem to have been abundant enough in certain moments in the geological history of the earth. Nowadays, it is known that there are about 80 species. Despite this, little is known about these animals, largely because the vast majority tends to live in profound Zanjas of the ocean, often at a depth of 3,9354.265 feet (1,2001,300 m) and occasionally so deep as 29,530 feet (90 meters). Virtually no light penetrates the water in these depths and living organisms are few and widely dispersed. Most of the species that live in such depths must preserve their energy, and sea lilies, by virtue of their few bodies and living tissues, probably have a very low metabolism rate. Most of the foods they receive come in the form of a "fecal rain" from higher water levels: like animals and plants die, parts of their bodies fall through the water column where other organisms are eliminated by other agencies. Although sweeping animals are widespread and numerous in the oceans, some of these materials eventually reach the deepest regions and, in this way, ensure a constant supply of food products with specialized species, such as sea lilies.