现存种类超过一万个
and over 10,000 species exist.
它们很顽强 即使少了四条腿也不会使它们慢下来
They’re hardy souls – even missing half their legs won’t slow them down.
它们还是机会主义者
And they’re great opportunists –
有些在海参的嘴里寻找食物
some feasting inside a sea cucumber’s mouth.
海参有些非凡的身体适应性
Sea cucumbers have some remarkable physical adaptations themselves.
它们通过尾部呼吸
They breathe through their rear end,
通过管足利用水压前进
move on hydraulically-powered tube feet,
海参体壁有一种特殊的胶原蛋白
and have a special collagen in their body wall
使它们能够迅速改变身体形状
that enables them to radically change shape.
它们从身体前部产卵
They also spawn from their forehead.
海参很少有天敌
Sea cucumbers have few natural predators.
难怪虾蟹喜欢把它们当做出租车
So it’s no wonder they’re a popular taxi ride for crabs and shrimp.
因为海参用身体前端挑起食物
Because the sea cucumber stirs up food with its front end,
虾蟹甚至能获得一份免费的食物
there’s even a free meal as part of the ticket.
裸腮软体动物也非常适合搭便车
Nudibranchs are also great to hitchhike.
这些剧毒的海蛞蝓
These highly poisonous sea slugs
在通过危险开阔地时提供安全通道
offer guaranteed safe passage through dangerous open territory,
虾则在路上负责清洁
with the shrimps scavenging on the run.
但对第一流的旅行来说
But for first-class travel,
没什么比得上喷水推进式的水母
nothing compares to a jet-propelled jellyfish.
魔毯在珊瑚上方滑过 以扁虫的形式
Magic carpets also glide above the reef, in the form of flatworms.
扁虫和裸腮软体动物没有外壳
Flatworms and nudibranchs don’t have shells,
所以利用化学战保护自己
so draw on chemical warfare as defense.
有些吃有毒的水螅和海葵
Some eat toxic hydroids and anemones
并将毒素隔离在皮肤内
and sequester poison in their skin,
这使它们对潜在的猎食者来说具有毒性
which in turn makes them poisonous to any potential predator.
明亮鲜艳的颜色与图案宣告它们的毒性
They advertise their toxicity with bright, bold colors and patterns,
也使它们美丽非凡
which have conspired to make them incredibly beautiful.
和外貌一样 它们的性格也同样狂野
They are as wild in character as they are in appearance.
腮在背上 性器官在两边
They have gills on their backs, sex organs on their sides
它们都是雌雄同体
and all of them are hermaphrodites.
还有些是同类相食的
And some are fierce cannibals.
试图在交♥配♥中吃掉你的爱人是难以接受的
Trying to eat your lover during sex is not quite acceptable,
但吃个表亲还是可以的
but snacking on a cousin is fine.
海星和海蛞蝓一样居住在海底
Joining the sea slugs on the ocean’s floor are the sea stars.
海星常被称作“星鱼”
Sea stars are often referred to as starfish,
但它们完全不是鱼类 它们是棘皮动物
but they’re not fish at all, they’re echinoderms.
棘皮动物可追溯到5亿年前
Echinoderms date back over 500 million years,
比珊瑚的演变早
so predate the evolution of coral.
它们进化出很多生命形式
They have evolved into a wide range of life forms
共同点是棘刺
and what many have in common is the spine.
海胆全身是刺
Urchins are some of the most heavily spined of all,
但对于色彩协调的虾和蟹 这并不是威胁
but for some color-coordinated crabs and shrimp, this isn’t a deterrent.
它们已经适应在刺与刺的间隙生活
They’ve adapted to live amongst the spines
并一生都在那里
and remain there all their lives.
这是珊瑚礁中典型的共生案例
It’s a classic case of symbiosis on a reef and worlds within worlds.
热带海洋就像蓝色沙漠 非常缺少营养
Tropical oceans are like vast blue deserts and largely nutrient poor.
在珊瑚礁中 什么都不能浪费
On coral reefs, nothing goes to waste.
这里进化出各种专业滤食性动物
Various specialist filter feeders have evolved
筛过流经的水流
to sift the passing currents –
捕捉 消化并回收每一块食物
capturing, digesting and recycling every available bit of food.
在所有滤食性动物中 蠕虫是数量和种类最多的
Worms are among the most numerous and diverse of all filter feeders.
现存有2万个海洋种类
20,000 marine species exist
与陆地上的蠕虫不同 它们是有毒的束状物
and, unlike the earth worms, they’re an exotic bunch.
就如它们的名字
Befitting their name,
圣诞树蠕虫打开它节日羽毛般的口器
Christmas-tree worms unfurl festive, feathery mouth parts,
把它们当做细小的网
which they use like tiny nets.
它们的身体埋在珊瑚礁之中 很少能看见
Their bodies, meanwhile, are buried in the coral and rarely seen.
同样难得一见的是蓝带鳗
Equally shy are ribbon eels.
它们一生中大部分时间躲在洞穴中
They spend most of their time concealed in deep burrows,
只有头伸出来
with just their heads peeking out.
它们是海鳗的亲戚
They’re relatives of moray eels
张开的嘴使它们看起来具有进攻性
and their gaping mouths make them look aggressive.
但它们仅仅在呼吸
But they’re simply breathing,
夸张的鼻孔是在嗅找食物
with their exaggerated nostrils sniffing for food.
采用同样生活方式的是花♥园♥鳗
Adopting the same lifestyle are garden eels.
大群纤细的花♥园♥鳗从沙中升起
These delicate sea serpents rise from the sand in vast communities,
表演催眠印度蛇舞
performing their hypnotic Indian snake dance.
它们对掠食者保持警惕
Ever watchful for predators,
从经过的水流中紧张地采食浮游生物
they nervously pluck plankton from passing currents,
并用尾巴将自己固定住
their tails anchoring them down.
由于珊瑚的漫长历史
Because of corals’ longevity on our planet,
它们被当做活化石
they’re considered our living fossils.
另一个活化石是鹦鹉螺
Another living fossil still with us today is the nautilus.
它是一种古老的软体动物 当软体动物最终丢掉外壳
It’s an ancient mollusk, whose line eventually dropped its shell…
就带来了头足类动物的时代
..and gave rise to the age of the cephalopods.
有珊瑚礁的地方就有头足动物
Cephalopods are synonymous with the reef
拟态章鱼是最有趣的动物之一
and one of the most intriguing is the mimic octopus.
如同它名字中暗示的
As its name implies,
它模仿超过15种动物
the octopus mimics the physical likeness and movements
外表和行动方式
of more than 15 different species,
包括海蛇 狮子鱼 鲽鱼和鬼蟹
including sea snakes, lionfish, flounder and ghost crabs.
它是自然中最伟大的柔术演员
It’s one of nature’s great contortionists.
如果它不想被看到 那就肯定不会
If it doesn’t want to be seen, it certainly won’t be.
许多种章鱼都生活在珊瑚礁附近
Many species of octopus live in the vicinity of reefs
真正的珊瑚礁专家是它
and a true reef specialist is this –
昼章鱼
the day octopus.
这种章鱼是伟大的猎手 鱼儿们匆忙保护它们的卵
These octopus are great hunters and fish hurry to defend their eggs.
章鱼是如此贪吃
And being so tasty themselves,
这使它们不得不发展出高明的捕猎技巧
octopus have had to develop excellent martial arts skills.
它们有无脊椎动物中最为复杂的大脑
They have the most complex brain of any invertebrate
能同时处理全部八条触手传递的信息
and can process information from all eight arms at once.
它们有短期和长♥期♥记忆
They have short as well as long-term memory
并具备通过皮肤进行沟通的特殊方式
and possess a special way to communicate with their skin.
同时高度互动 触觉性良好
They’re also highly interactive and tactile.
求爱仪式可持续数小时
Courtship rituals can last for hours,
一对章鱼将16条触手紧紧抱在一起
with couples intertwining all 16 arms in a sticky embrace.
一旦交♥配♥完成 它们将逐渐死去
Once they mate, their bodies are programmed to die.
对某些生物来说 这意味着仅6个月的生命周期
For some species, this means a lifespan of just 6 months.
对其它的 可能长达5年
For others, up to 5 years.
鱿鱼是章鱼的表亲
Cousin of the octopus is the squid,
它们谨慎地将卵产在海藻丛中
seen here delicately laying eggs in forest fronds.
我们经常把鱿鱼称作枪乌贼
We know squid more commonly as calamari,
尽管鱿鱼是全世界的美食
but despite being a favored delicacy around the world,
很多品种的数量仍在上升
many species are increasing in number.
像其他头足纲动物一样
Like other cephalopods,
它们充分利用海洋掠食者大量消失的机会
they’re making the most of oceans depleted of natural predators
而且似乎比别的生物更能适应海水的变化
and seem more resilient than others to changing water conditions.
这个家族的另一个魅力成员是乌贼
Another charismatic member of the family is the cuttlefish.
它们如同具有魔力一般
These creatures have magical attributes.
外部 大眼睛令人印象深刻
On the outside, large eyes as expressive as our own.
内部 三颗心脏推动蓝色的血液
On the inside, three hearts that pump blue blood.
在繁殖季 它们三五成群
During their breeding season, they gather in small groups,
小型宇宙飞船般一个接一个急速前进
zooming amongst one another like miniature spaceships.
利用喷水的推进力
Masters of jet propulsion,
它们能向前 后及两边随意移♥动♥
they can move backwards, forwards or sideways with equal ease.
它们每年都会回到繁殖地
Every year they return to favorite nesting sites,
比如这个有毒火珊瑚
like this colony of venomous fire coral.
雄性用引人注目的表演和姿势
Males use dramatic body displays and postures
来竞争交♥配♥权
to compete for mating rights.
虽然竞争激烈 但几乎不用搏斗
So although competition is intense, it’s rarely physical.
雌乌贼从嘴里取出一团卵
Clutching her brood of eggs in her mouth,
然后把孩子交由珊瑚来照料
a female surrenders her young to the care of coral.
火焰乌贼是名副其实的
The flamboyant cuttlefish is one of the tiniest cephalopods,
最小的头足纲动物之一
yet lives up to its name.
因骨板太小不能漂浮 所以它更多的是行走而不是游泳
Its cuttlebone is too small to float, so it walks more than swims.
它用闪烁的皮肤斑纹宣告自己毒性很强
And it has a highly poisonous flesh, advertised by its pulsing skin.
它也是致命的掠食者
It’s also a deadly predator.
缩在外套膜里的的两条专用触须
Two specialized tentacles are contained within a muscular sleeve,
可以像矛一样迅速发射
which is launched like a spear.