Question

The very weird animal in the photo below is called a predatory tunicate. It grows to about 5 inches in length and is permanently attached to rocky parts of the deep ocean. When food drifts into its large mouth it closes quickly. What type of feeding strategy is this?

Answer 1

Answer:

The feeding strategy employed by the predatory tunicate is known as; Filter Feeding

Explanation:

The image of the predatory tunicate is attached to this answer

Feeding in the aquatic environment is not as simple as it is in the terrestrial, because the food and the water are of equal density, so an attempt to close the mouth at the food will push both the water and the food away, so one mechanism that aquatic animals have adopted in feeding is known as suspension feeding. Suspension feeding is a feeding mechanism in aquatic environment where animals engulf suspended food particles in water and uses associated mechanisms to strain out the food, and filter feeding is a sub-type of suspension feeding.

Filter feeding is a mechanism where organisms isolate food suspension particles from water, by passing the water through specialized filtering structures. Some animals such as; Krill, Clams, Sponges, certain fishes and even Flamingos have this kind of feeding method.

In this method of feeding by the predatory tunicate, it opens its large mouth to create a negative pressure in its mouth, which directs water current towards its mouth, hence carrying suspensions with it, after the food particle has entered its mouth, it closes its mouth to trap the food particle and this closure of mouth forces water through an outlet that is designed not to let the larger food particles to pass out, but allowing water to move out.