# Salp (*Salpa*)

Salps are gelatinous, barrel-shaped creatures that live in the ocean. They move by pumping water through their bodies, filtering out tiny plants and animals to eat.

- **Category:** [Invertebrate](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/invertebrate)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 2/5 · Low
- **Habitat:** Marine

![Salp](https://res.cloudinary.com/drieglelr/image/upload/v1771426657/objects/6380.jpg)

## Appearance

The Salp is a transparent, barrel-shaped invertebrate with a gelatinous body. It often appears as a clear, hollow tube or chain, allowing its simple internal organs to be faintly visible within its crystalline structure.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Ciliophora
- **Class:** Thaliacea
- **Order:** Salpida
- **Family:** Salpidae
- **Genus:** Salpa

## Interesting facts

- A single salp can filter hundreds of liters of ocean water every day!
- Giant salp blooms can stretch for miles, becoming a living 'ocean highway'!
- Salps can sometimes glow in the dark, emitting their own light in the ocean!
- Some salps live alone, then become part of a big, moving chain!

## Special abilities

- **Jet Power:** Salp can move through the water by contracting its body, squirting water out to propel itself forward.
- **Super Cloner:** Salp has the amazing ability to clone itself rapidly, forming long, living chains that move and feed together.
- **Carbon Sink:** Salps capture carbon from the ocean surface and sink it deep when they die, helping regulate climate.

## Measurements & details

- **Length:** 1-10
- **Weight:** 0.001-0.01
- **Speed:** 0.1-0.5

## Diet & Feeding

Salps filter tiny plants from the water.

- **Primary Foods:** Phytoplankton, Diatoms, Dinoflagellates
- **Foraging Method:** Filter feeding

## Ecological connections

- **Eaten by:** Ocean Sunfish (*Mola mola*) — A favorite snack for the giant Ocean Sunfish.
- **Eaten by:** Green Sea Turtle (*Chelonia mydas*) — Sometimes mistaken for jellyfish by sea turtles.
- **Eats:** Coccolithophore (*Emiliania huxleyi*) — Feeds on these microscopic ocean plants.

## Traits

- [Wildlife](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/wildlife): Wildlife encompasses all undomesticated animal and plant life existing in their natural habitats.
- [Social](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/social): Social animals live in organized groups, cooperating for survival benefits such as foraging, defense, and raising offspring.
- [Filter Feeder](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/filter-feeder): Filter feeders obtain nutrients by straining suspended food particles and small organisms from water.
- [Ancient Lineage](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/ancient-lineage): This trait signifies organisms belonging to a very old evolutionary group with ancestors dating back millions of years.
- [Marine](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/marine): Marine habitats encompass all saltwater environments of the Earth's oceans, supporting an immense diversity of aquatic life.

## Collections

- [Invertebrates](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/invertebrates)

## Safety

**Danger:** 2/5 · Low

If you ever see a salp washed up on the beach, avoid touching it as some species can cause skin irritation.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Salp?

Look for fins, arms, tentacles, shells and body symmetry. Underwater light shifts colors, so structure and markings usually matter more than shade. Sea Creature Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How long is Salp?

1-10

### How much does Salp weigh?

0.001-0.01

### How fast can Salp move?

0.1-0.5

### What does Salp eat?

Salps filter tiny plants from the water.

### Where is Salp usually found?

Marine

### How does Salp hunt?

Filter feeding

## More Invertebrate

- [Coral](https://www.snappit.app/explore/coral)
- [Crab Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/crab-spider) (*Mecaphesa asperata*)
- [Garden Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/garden-spider) (*Araneus diadematus*)
- [Brown Recluse Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/brown-recluse-spider) (*Loxosceles reclusa*)

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Source: [Salp: Characteristics, Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/salp)