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Mystery Animals – A Quick Quiz

By Emily Gumina, 16 August 2023

Some of these animals might sound familiar, but I bet they’re not what you’re expecting!

#1. Sea mice live on the ocean floor, they grow to around 15 centimetres long and 7 centimetres wide, and they don’t have eyes. What kind of animal is a sea mouse?

Sea mice are actually wide segmented worms! They got their name from their mouse-like appearance as they are brown, bronze, black or yellow in colour and are covered in hair-like setae. Their outer bristles are iridescent, which means they shine blue, green and gold under light.

#2. Which of the following correctly describes a sea pig?

Sea pigs are deep-sea sea cucumbers and are often found in large groups, gathered around a food source on the ocean floor. They have been found as deep as 6000 metres!

#3. True or false? Snailfish are the only fish to have shells.

False. Snailfish have a scaleless, jelly-like body making them look like shell-less snails. One type of snailfish has the record for deepest fish ever recorded – 8,336 metres in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench, south of Japan!

#4. Sea angels are small marine snails with tentacles on their head. Which of the following is incorrect?

Sea angels are not herbivores! Despite their name, sea angels are predators. They typically feed on other swimming snails, using finger-like tentacles and hooked appendages to catch and pull in their prey.

#5. An invertebrate is any animal without a backbone. Which of the following invertebrates is actually a colony and made up of multiple individuals?

Sea pens are related to soft corals and look like old-fashioned quill pens. Each sea pen is made up of multiple individuals (called ‘polyps’) that all work together to survive. They can be found throughout the world’s oceans and feed on plankton.

Was I right?

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5 comments

  1. #4. Sea angels are small marine snails with tentacles on their head. Which of the following is incorrect?

    They’re herbivores that only eat plant pollen that falls into the sea

    They have wing-like structures for swimming

    They have transparent bodies

    They have no shell
    Despite their name, sea angels are pretty good predators! They typically feed on other swimming snails, using finger-like tentacles and hooked appendages to catch and pull in their prey.

    Apparently its the first answer, but do they eat pollen or snails?

      Reply
    1. Yes, the first answer is incorrect because sea angels are actually highly carnivorous (so no plant pollen). Instead, sea angels almost exclusively eat swimming snails. When they find a swimming snail, the tentacles on their head grab the prey and then they use hook-like appendages to pull the prey out of its shell and into their stomach.

        Reply
  2. I’ve tweaked the answer slightly to clarify – the question is looking for the one lie, not the only true fact.

      Reply
  3. No chance of supplying pictures with the answers?

      Reply

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