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| Q 1. | ||
| Does Amphioxus, the lancelet, or any of its relatives live along the Florida coast? |
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| Q&A 1. | Does Amphioxus, the lancelet, or any of its relatives live along the Florida coast? Anacortes, Washington |
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| Lancelets are primitive chordates, small (2 to 3 inch maximum), slender, jawless, and eyeless animals found in shallow tropical and temperate seas. They are burrowers, typically lying partially buried in sand, with only the head and mouth exposed. To feed, they filter small plankton from seawater. Although they look like small fish, lancelets lack an internal skeleton composed of either bone or cartilage. Rather, each possesses a slender ad flexible cell-filled rod known as a notochord. A similar notochord is present in the early embryological development of higher chordates, but is quickly replaced and supplemented by true skeletal elements. It often is suggested that the lancelets represent an ancient lineage from which the fishes, and through them, other vertebrates evolved. Several species of lancelet are found off the coast of Florida, the most common of which is the Caribbean lancelet (Branchiostoma caribaeum). This translucent animal is found in coarse sand in a depth range from low-tide zone to about 24 fathoms. |
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