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Discover Our Gulf: Sea Pork
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| Discover Our Gulf: Sea Pork? By Miranda Manning Gulf Specimen Marine Lab Panacea, Florida | | | Have you ever walked along the beautiful shores of our Gulf and happen upon a weird waxy blob of mystery and wondered what on earth could ever produce something so strange? In the fall and winter you can find tons of these stranded sea pork, ranging in size and color. This fall, in particular, was one of the largest strandings of these colonial animals that Gulf Specimen has ever seen. | 
| These bizarre blobs are marine animals. They have a sac- like, unsegmented body. This "salted pork" look-a-like is made up of zooids. A Zooid is simply a miniscule sized body that has independent movement within a living organism. Think of it like a condominium with hundreds of people living in it - well except for in this case, the condo is also a living organism. | | 
| Sea Pork is a subtidal species that grows on rocks jetties, wharves, corals and seaweed. Colonies form when sea pork zooids group together and encase themselves with digested cellulose derived from saltwater. Some colonies may cover up to a yard or more. When they reach the end of their lifecycle, they detach and eventually wash up on shore. Sea Pork reproduces by cross fertilization with neighboring zooids in the seapork "sac". Even though the animal is hermaphroditic, babies are created when sperm and egg unite. | | When I first encountered these interesting specimens years ago, I wondered how and what these creatures ate. They have two external openings that are located near each other. One functions as a mouth and the other functions as a point of excretion . Zooid colonies derive food from the sea water which it pumps through an intricate internal filter basket. After the food is filtered out, the waste and water is excreted. | | 
| Bottom dwelling fish, skates and sharks like to eat sea pork. At the lab we have seen crabs and large file fish also eat sea pork. Here are some fun facts about Sea Pork and its distant cousins. Found in the seas of Japan, a specific type of sea squirt drifts around until it finds a rock to permanently settle on. Once it has comfortably attached itself, it has no need to be concerned with future travel so it absorbs its own brain.
| | Sea pork, sea squirts and humans all share the same phylum of Chordates. So somewhere way down the line humans and these little colorful blobs share some interesting similarities. | | CHECK OUT OUR OTHER ARTICLES BY CLICKING HERE! | | 
| The Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory's mission is to further through study, research, publication, teaching and public display the knowledge of marine biology; to promote protection of marine life and the marine environment; to collect, classify and disseminate marine biological specimens. They are located just off Hwy 98 in Panacea, Florida. It is a wonderful field trip for kids and adults, alike. The touch tanks are fun, and you get to be up close and personal with all sorts of marine life. Open Mon - Fri 9 to 5, Sat 10 to 4 & Sun 12 to 4 | | Grapevine spent the afternoon there this summer. Check out the Article on Their Trip by CLICKING HERE - It features video of our octopus and of the nurse shark's feeding time! Visit The Gulf Specimen Website by CLICKING HERE |
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