The sea cockroach, in addition to the name, has practically nothing to do with the bug, which we are panically afraid to see in our kitchen. Some belong to cockroaches, others to crustaceans. Some live on land, others in the deep sea. True, a sea cockroach is edible, like its land namesake. Of course, not everyone is able to try such an exotic dish, but everyone is interested in seeing how someone else does it.
The truth about a sea cockroach
For those who have no idea who a sea cockroach is, there is an answer from reliable sources. This small creature is gray, sand, brown or white. Typically, the color allows him to successfully disguise himself as an environment, hiding from predators, which, incidentally, he has a lot of.
Sea cockroach is a subtype of crustaceans. So, his closest relatives are wide-crayfish, crayfish, lobster, crab, shrimp and krill. In the world there are more than 70 species of these crustaceans.
Lifestyle & Habitats
Sea cockroaches, like all crustaceans, live at the bottom of the seas and lakes. They feed on plants or small representatives of the animal world found there, as well as small pieces of organic substances. Sea cockroaches do not disdain carrion, and in some cases they can profit from the flesh of their relative. Even being protected by their shell, sea cockroaches often become a treat for large fish. And where does the sea cockroach live?
These crustaceans live in the Black, White and Baltic Seas. They can be found in the shallow waters of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. For permanent residence, they prefer moderate-salt water, but, despite the name, they can exist in the fresh waters of some large lakes.
Why sea cockroaches are found in the waters of the lakes of Scandinavia and Russia is not fully known. According to one version, they have remained there since when these lakes were still part of the sea. Another says that these crustaceans were able to independently get out of the sea.
Body structure
The length of the adult varies from 5-10 cm. Crustaceans are larger than the sea cockroach, the Gulf of Finland has never seen. And in the entire Baltic Sea it is considered the largest representative of this subtype of arthropods.
The body of a sea cockroach has an elongated linear shape. It has external, longer antennae, and internal ones are shorter. The eyes are located on the sides of his small head. It has gills for breathing. On the reverse side, the body ends with a narrowed tail.
Carapace and sense organs
The main feature of crustaceans, to which, as already indicated, marine cockroaches belong, is their chitinous shell. The external skeleton serves as an arthropod reliable protection against mechanical damage that they could easily get in marine life. In addition, he protects his master from various infections that could overcome him.
The shell of a sea cockroach limits the growth of the animal’s body. Therefore, until it reaches its maximum size, a peculiar “dressing up" occurs repeatedly, in a scientific way - molting. Only between molts is a sea cockroach capable of increasing the volume of its soft tissues.
In a sea cockroach, as already noted, the eyes are located on the sides of the head. His vision is well developed. They smell, taste and feel crustaceans with the help of sensilla and tactile hairs. Sensils are special modified sections of the body cover to which one or more processes of a neuron are attached.
How does reproduction occur?
Sea cockroaches reproduce sexually, that is, new organisms are obtained from germ cells. When the embryo that feeds on the yolk of the egg comes to the surface, it is a planktonic larva, which is called nauplius. Initially, his body consists of two segments, and then in the growth zone located in front of the anal segment, new ones are laid.
The next stage of development of the larva, scientists call metanauplius. In general, in order to achieve full development, the larva needs to undergo several links, during each of which both external and internal transformations occur.
