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Scorpion
Palamnaeus swammerdami is the great black
scorpion which is the largest scorpion found in India. In scorpions, the body is elongate,
with a compact cephalothorax, and a narrow, elongated, abdomen, broadly joined to the front
part. The second pair of cephalothoracic appendages are large and powerful with stout
pincer-like joints at its tips. The abdomen is long, composed of 12 ring-like segments. The
last six segments are narrow, with a sharp, poison claw bearing the sting at its end.
Scorpions are nocturnal creatures, hiding by day and coming out at night to hunt for the
insects, etc., on which they feed.
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| Star Fishes
Star fishes are included in the
Class Asteroidea. The body is star-shaped and consists of a flattened central disc with
normally five radiating tapering arms. The mouth is placed in the centre of the under surface
(or oral) and from it a groove radiates along the oral surface of each arm. This groove is
known as the 'ambulacral groove' and is bordered by many spines and from it many slender
processes known as 'tube feet' protrude in four or two rows. These tube feet serve for
locomotion and in the capture and handling of food. The body wall of the starfish is made up
of a tough meshwork of small calcareous plates placed close together. Inside the body there is
an elaborate system of canals - the water vascular system - which serves the functions of
circulation, respiration and excretion through the amoebae - like free cells that float in the
contained fluid. The system opens out to the exterior by means of a sieve like perforated
plate, the madreporite on the upper or aboral surface. A few specimens, pentaceros hedemanni,
oreaster linki, linckia laevigata are shown here.
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