Tag Archives: sand

Triops spend a lot of time digging, and this individual is searching for particles of food in the sand. The first step in filter-feeding is to agitate the sand, which Triops accomplish by walking across the sand with their front legs while excavating it with large paddle-shaped lobes on their hind legs. The large, dense sand grains rapidly settle out of the water, leaving behind a suspension of silt particles, small organisms and organic debris, which is swept into a midventral groove that runs along the underside of the Triops. Once in the midventral groove, inward-pointing lobes on the legs of the Triops sweep particles towards the mouth. Small hairs on these lobes act as a sieve, allowing silt to be carried away by water currents, while retaining larger organic particles. Especially large organic particles can be shredded by blade-like lobes on the legs, and Triops posess powerful mandibles that allow them to chew their food.
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