I kept a record of the sources with the extracted information. I have the links if you would like them.
<u>Hydro-international article: Benthos, Inc.</u>
Benthos was founded by Samuel O. Raymond.
He created an innovative company in marine technology which has positively impacted the field for over four decades.
It manufactures a variety of oceanographic equipment, including flotation devices; hydrophones for locating mining sites, tracking boats, and research for marine biology; and modems, which are used to communicate information wirelessly underwater.
For much of the company's lifetime, it supplied underwater equipment to the military, the government, and for research.
<u>Smithsonian Magazine: 14 fun facts about marine bristle worms</u>
Polychaete worms are a diverse class of animals with at least 10,000 species.
They are characterized by a head and a tail, and a pair of bristled "legs", called parapodia, for each segment of their body. They are typically bioluminescent, meaning they have the natural ability to glow.
Due to their effective adaptation, they can live in any marine habitat (including coral reefs, hydrothermal vents, or simply out in the open ocean) and have survived the five mass extinctions since 500 million years ago.
<u>National Ocean Service: What is a bivalve mollusk?</u>
Bivalves are mollusks with a two-part hinged shell to cover a soft invertebrate. They breathe and eat using gills.
Their organ, the mantle, produces calcium carbonate which causes the shell to grow with the organism.
They have important roles of being prey for predators, filtering water, and acting as a habitat in aquatic ecosystems.
These mollusks can live in any of the five oceans, whether it be the frozen Arctic or the hydrothermal vents in the Pacific.
There are over 9000 species.
<u>Marine Education Society of Australasia: Echinoderms</u>
Echinoderms are characterized by radial symmetry, having multiple of five arms, a calcium carbonate shell, and an outer layer of skin that maintains the skeleton.
They are found on the sea floor and include starfish, sea cucumbers and sea urchins.
They have the ability to hunt prey larger than their mouths due to their ability to eat from their stomachs. They detect food through a senstitivty to chemicals, although they lack any brains.
There are over 7000 species.
<u>Thoughtco: Sea Squirts</u>
Sea Squirts, scientifically tunicates or ascidans, are a class in the animal kingdom with over 2000 species.
They were given this name for their ability to contract and squirt water.
They do this using the inhalant and exhalant siphons, which are also used for eating and excreting waste.
They live in subtidal locations while attached to shells, rocks, piers and boat hulls.
Sea Squirts may live in colonies or individually. Colonies are created when they reproduce by budding, or when a new animal grows off of the original.
<u>National Geographic.com: Sea Anemones</u>
Sea anemones are an invertebrate which have stinging and venom-filled tentacles, called polyps, to hunt passing fish.
They tentacles surround a central mouth and inject a paralyzing substance into its prey, before guiding them into the mouth.
Apart from hunting, they also eat leftovers from clownfish, who are immune to the anemone because they are covered with a mucus and live within the polyps.
They live attached to rocks on the seafloor and coral reefs, usually in tropical waters.
There are over 1000 species.
<u>Conclusions or Summary:</u>
The marine technology company Benthos led to the discovery or further information about these animals because it provided equipment to researchers.
All of these organisms are animals and diverse with thousands of species in each of these common names.
They are adaptive and can generally live and thrive in a variety of habitats, whether the difference be in surface material or climate.
