Top Results for Filter Feeder

The reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) is a large manta species reaching disc widths of approximately 3 to 5 meters, smaller than the giant oceanic manta ray. It inhabits coastal waters throughout the Indo-Pacific and is frequently observed at coral reef cleaning stations, where small fish remove paras...

The whale shark is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. Found in tropical and warm-temperate ocean waters worldwide, it can reach lengths of approximately 18 meters. The species feeds primarily on plankton and small nekton by filtering water through i...

The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest living fish after the whale shark, reaching lengths of up to about 10 meters. It is found in temperate coastal and pelagic waters worldwide and feeds by swimming slowly with its mouth open, filtering zooplankton through modified gill raker...

The megamouth shark, Megachasma pelagios, is a rare deepwater shark and one of three living shark species known to feed by filtering plankton from the water. It has a broad, rounded head, a very large protrusible mouth, and relatively small teeth. The species became known to science after a specimen...

Bamboo shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis) are freshwater shrimp native to Southeast Asia. These unique crustaceans are notable for their broad, flattened appendages which they use as paddles to filter feed in flowing water. They consume algae and microorganisms, making them valuable additions to aquarium...

The vampire shrimp *Atya gabonensis* is a striking ornamental freshwater shrimp originating from equatorial Africa and South America. It’s notable for its large size, reaching up to fifteen centimeters, and unique dark coloration, resembling a miniature bat. As a filter-feeder, it plays a beneficial...

Singapore Bamboo Shrimp (Atyopsis spinipes) are freshwater shrimp native to Southeast Asia. These filter-feeding crustaceans rely on flowing water for food, consuming algae and particulate matter. They are notable as a popular ornamental species in aquariums and provide insight into aquatic ecosyste...

Aquilolamna milarcae is an extinct Cretaceous elasmobranch known from a fossil discovered in northeastern Mexico and formally described in 2021. It had an elongated body and exceptionally broad, wing-like pectoral fins, producing a body plan that has been compared with modern manta rays despite its...

The barrel jellyfish, Rhizostoma pulmo, is a large scyphozoan jellyfish found in the Mediterranean Sea and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Its firm, dome-shaped bell can reach about 90 centimeters in diameter, although most individuals are smaller, and its eight thick oral arms lack the long margin...

A filter-feeding freshwater shrimp of the family Atyidae, notable for fan-like appendages used to capture suspended organic particles directly from the water current.

Rhizostoma luteum is a giant barrel jellyfish found primarily in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, with bells that can exceed 90 cm, and is one of the least studied large medusae in European waters.

The Pink-eared Duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus) is a distinct waterfowl species endemic to Australia, frequently inhabiting temporary wetlands and heavily vegetated swamps. It is notable for its uniquely shaped spatula bill, which is lined with fine, comb-like structures specialized for filter-fee...

The Northern Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) is a widespread dabbling duck found across the Northern Hemisphere. It is distinguished by its uniquely large, spatula-shaped bill, which contains comb-like structures called lamellae used to filter small invertebrates and seeds from the water. Males exhibit...

The spotted jellyfish, Phyllorhiza punctata, is a large scyphozoan jellyfish native to the western Pacific, recognizable by the pale spots scattered across its rounded bell. It contains symbiotic algae in its tissues and also filter-feeds on zooplankton, using multiple oral arms rather than long mar...

Rhizostoma octopus is a large scyphozoan jellyfish found in northeastern Atlantic waters and adjacent seas. As a rhizostome jellyfish, it lacks the long marginal tentacles associated with many familiar jellyfish and instead has fused, branching oral arms used in feeding. Its thick, dome-shaped bell...

Rhizostoma luteum is a large species of scyphozoan jellyfish found primarily in the Mediterranean Sea and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Like other members of its genus, it lacks marginal tentacles and possesses eight distinctive oral arms used for filter feeding. The species can reach substantial...

The Red Shoveler (Spatula platalea) is a dabbling duck native to the southern half of South America, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands. It is easily recognized by the male's bright reddish plumage and the prominent, spatula-shaped bill shared by both sexes. Inhabiting shallow lake...

The mole crab is a small marine crustacean belonging to the genus Emerita, commonly found in the swash zone of sandy beaches worldwide. It is distinguished by its barrel-shaped body and its ability to rapidly burrow backward into the sand to evade crashing ocean waves. Mole crabs are filter feeders,...

Proboscidactyla ornata is a small hydrozoan whose medusa stage lives in association with the tubes of polychaete worms. The relationship is generally described as commensal: the jellyfish gains a place to live and access to food-bearing water while the worm is not treated as its prey; the species oc...

Rhopilema verrilli is a large rhizostome scyphozoan jellyfish native to the western North Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Its bell can reach about 50 centimetres in diameter, placing it among the conspicuous large jellyfish of the region. Like other rhizostomes, it feeds by filtering suspended food...

Catostylus tagi is a scyphozoan, or true jellyfish, in the family Catostylidae. It is common in Portugal's Tagus estuary and occurs along adjacent eastern Atlantic coastal waters; records also place it in the Mediterranean Sea as a non-indigenous species since 2010. Its life cycle includes a benthic...

Versuriga anadyomene is a rhizostome jellyfish in the class Scyphozoa, associated with warm Indo-Pacific waters. It has a broad bell and oral arms adapted for filter feeding, as in other rhizostome jellyfish whose mouths are divided into smaller openings. The species is distinguished by its ornate,...

Porcelain crabs are small marine decapod crustaceans in the family Porcellanidae. Despite their common name, they are anomurans and are more closely related to squat lobsters and hermit crabs than to true crabs. Many species live in reef crevices or among rocks, where their flattened bodies help the...

Crambione mastigophora is a marine scyphozoan jellyfish in the order Rhizostomeae and family Catostylidae. It occurs in the Indo-West Pacific, including waters around Australia and the Marshall Islands, and has a reddish or brownish bell with eight oral arms. The oral arms bear small club-shaped app...

Catostylus cruciatus is a rhizostome jellyfish found in Australian coastal and estuarine waters. Like other members of its order, it feeds by filtering small organisms and particles from the water rather than using a single central mouth; its oral arms contain numerous small openings. The species is...

Pseudorhiza haeckeli, commonly called Haeckel's jellyfish, is a true jellyfish in the family Lychnorhizidae and the order Rhizostomeae. It occurs in Australian coastal waters and is also recorded from the wider Indo-Pacific. Like other rhizostomes, it has a bell and branched oral arms rather than a...

Acromitus flagellatus is a scyphozoan jellyfish in the family Catostylidae, native to parts of the Indo-Pacific. Its bell can be marked with uneven dark spots, while its eight oral arms extend below the bell and end in long flagella, the feature reflected in its species name. The medusa may be white...

A freshwater shrimp inhabiting cool, well-oxygenated highland streams, requiring stable low temperatures that make it challenging to maintain in most home aquaria.

Lobonemoides gracilis is a rhizostome jellyfish recorded from the tropical Indo-Pacific. It is a filter-feeding scyphozoan, and its oral arms are comparatively slender when contrasted with those of the closely related genus Lobonema. These oral-arm proportions are a useful morphological distinction...