You've Got No Backbone

or The Big Book of Things You Should NOT Eat

by Stony Point Elementary School's 5th Grade Students

January 2001 This book is dedicated to the 5th graders who:

researched, sketched and wrote about an invertebrate of choice,

mixed paint from primary colors using an eraser tip to paint,

studied complimentary colors, and were inspired by Chuck Close, the artist and Georges Seurat, the Pointillist.

"Pointillism is a technique for portraying the play of light using small dots and tiny brushstrokes of contrasting colors, creating compositions with tiny, detached strokes of pure unmixed primary colors too small to be distinguished when looking at the entire work but the paintings shimmer with brilliance." BLUE-RINGED OCTOPUS By Aaron Hackett

The Blue-Ringed Octopus is a mollusk that is very deadly. After it gets close, it will bite and then spit poisonous saliva into its prey’s wounds. Then it moves in for the kill tearing up flesh with its sharp beak. The bright blue rings are a warning for its deadly spit. Even the warning of color is too late before it pops out of the shadows spitting and biting. Be careful the next time you go swimming in Australia because there might be a Blue-Ringed Octopus lurking around! The Snakelocks Anemone

by Angus

The long, sticky tentacles of the anemone that grows up to be 20cm across vary in color from dull grey brown to vivid green with purple tips. The Seapen

The seapen is a coelenterate. That means it has stinging cells. You can find seapens in colder waters like in Canada. They live at the bottom of the ocean burrowing in the deep mud between reefs. They can burrow as much 15 meters into the mud. They also have a muscular foot that they use to move. By Anna Watson Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantula by Ashby

The Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantulas are endangered. They can regenerate missing legs. It will take about 7 years for a leg to grow back. If the Mexican Red-Kneed Tarantula is threatened, it will rear up and display its red bristles on its body. It drops poisonous hairs on its victim who will break out in a rash. It also has poisonous fangs that it uses to inject in its prey. Although it has eight eyes, it doesn''t have very good eyesight so it uses the sensitive hairs on its legs for guidance. The Hermit Crab

In my picture there is a hermit crab.. I know that they have ten legs.. I learned that when a hermit crab senses danger, it quickly draws back inside its shell and seals the entrance with its hard claws.s A hermit crab is red and orange with white dots.

By: Brooke Lilly he Brittle Star By Cadessa Davis

The brittle star belongs to the group of echinoderms. The brittle star moves around in the ocean with its fragile arms. They live in a tidepools. The brittle star uses its fragile arms to open up food. They eat oysters, clams, and mostly other shelled animals in the ocean. The brittle star has spiny skin. All of the echinoderms have spiny skin. The brittle star has five arms. The brittle star has red triangles and white dots for color. The brittle star has a blackish brown body. Octopuses

Octopuses have eight tentacles, which are good for their wet habitat. Octopuses live in the ocean. Some can shoot an inky substance from their siphon to blind enemies. This one cannot. Octopi usually have beaks. Octopi have four hearts! Octopi change color according to their mood. They change red when they are angry or exited. BBByyy CCCooodddyyy LLLeeewwwiiisss South African Rock Scorpion

The Flat Rock Scorpion is supposedly the longest scorpion in the world. It is very terrestrial. It grows to be 5.5” to 7.5 “ long. The Flat Rock does not usually attack somebody unless it attacks its young. At that point, it does not hesitate to pinch. There are so many colors of scorpions -- mine is brown. They are different colors because of their locations. Babies feed on crickets and other small insects. Adults feed on crickets and other big bugs. by Cory Hale A Branching Sponge by Crystal Brittain

A Branching Sponge is named after their shape. They stay attached to rocks all their lives. Also many Sponges live on coral reefs. They come in a variety of colors and shapes. They were once thought to be plants but they are animals. They feed by filtering food from water that passes through their body. Spiny Sea Star By Dannette McGee

The Spiny Sea Star has a brownish tan looking color to it. It has a lot of different colors. The cool thing about it is that it can regenerate a lost arm. Regenerate means they can re- grow something they lost. Their scientific name is Echinoderm. I found this animal at www.ajkids.com and I found the Invertebrates in an Eyewitness book called Seashore. They have five pairs of legs. On the bottom of the sea star’s arm is a little red dot for them to look up and “see” what’s going on. Sea Stares can be found at the bottom of the ocean. The Giant Squid By Daniel Martin

The giant squid is the world’s largest invertebrate. It’s very difficult to study this creature because it’s so hard to find. Giant squids can grow up to 15 meters long and weigh up to 1900 pounds. There was a giant squid washed up on Plum Island in Massachusetts in 1980. It is only the third giant squid found on U.S. shores. The squid was a 9 foot, 400 pound female squid. Its tentacles were gone and its maroon colored skin was gone when it washed on shore. The estimated length of the giant squid's tentacles are about 30 feet. Yellow Seapen By Eden Miller

Seapens are coelenterates. They are also very rare. Their habitat is the sandy bottoms between reefs. Seapens are found in colder waters like Canada. They also have a muscular foot to help them move. Between the reefs where they stay, it has to have deep soft mud 15 meters deep. Seapens are lots of different colors. Seapens are hard to find so we don’t know a lot about them, because they are usually buried under the mud. A Nudibranch by Emily

My nudibranch’s scientific name is Chromodoris willani. Nudibranch’s are more commonly known as sea slugs. They are a type of mollusk. Mollusks are soft-bodied animals with a muscular foot. They also usually have shells. The Luna Moth

The Luna moth lives in Eastern America and Canada. It is also known as a “Moon Moth”. The Luna moth’s wingspan is 5 inches. It has long tails at its end. It has feathery antennae. The head is hidden so many birds in trees will peck at it’s long tail instead of it’s head. By Evan Ware The Imperial Scorpion by Giles Leake

The Imperial Scorpion, with a body seven inches long, is the largest scorpion in the world. It is from West Africa. The smallest scorpion is the Typholchactas mitchelli measuring only 0.4 of an inch. THE GYPSY MOTH by Heather

The Gypsy Moth is an insect and part of the moth family. The male is brown and the female is white with brownish black spots. The Gypsy Moth goes through 4 stages through their life, 1 an egg and when it hatches, 2 becomes a caterpillar and eats and eats and then 3 makes a cocoon around itself and when it breaks through it, 4 becomes a Gypsy Moth. Saltwater Jellyfish By Jenny Platt

This is a picture of a saltwater jellyfish. They are in the crustacean group of invertebrates. Their tentacles have a powerful sting and they can have up to 800 of them. They eat fish, of all types. Jellyfish are soft and ghostly looking. They are about the size of a quarter when fully- grown. The Sea Gooseberry

The Sea Gooseberry is a coelenterate. It is called the Sea gooseberry because it resembles the fruit of the gooseberry as it swims with its gelatin body. It can grow up to be 15mm long and have 8 evenly spaced combs. The Sea Gooseberries’ long tentacles originate from bulbs at the base of it. The combs of the sea gooseberry are usually used to propel it forward while it has sticky spots that collects zooplankton and brings it to the mouth. One of the sea gooseberries biggest threats is when it opens its carnivorous mouth and swallows anything that comes in as it swims. If a predator is detected the comb reverses and steers away from danger. You may find this predator on the Pacific coast from Mexico to Alaska By Jeremiah Santana Sea slug

The sea slug lives in the sea and can change its color. It has a muscular foot to move around. It is a mollusk and it eats little particles from the sea. By Jessica Charlie The Octopus

The octopus in the picture above can lay up to 150,000 eggs in two weeks. The octopus does not eat until her eggs hatch. Most octopuses never get to see their babies because it takes up to fifty days to hatch. When the babies are born they weigh up to one pound and twelve ounces. One octopus has over 100 suckers. They have over 60 suckers on one leg, big or small. The End By Joanna Brown The By The Wind Sailor By Jonathan Pulzone

The By The Wind Sailor is a jellyfish. It has a fin on its back. It is see- through. It is located from the oceans in Mexico to North Carolina. It usually floats on the surface of the ocean. It probably got its name from the flap on its back. The Striped Sea Anemone

The Striped Anemone is 19mm high and 6mm wide. It’s brown to olive- green column is usually covered with vertical stripes of orange, yellow, or cream. The Striped Anemone lives on solid objects in shallow water. It also lives in brackish water and in salt marshes. It has been observed and reported near Maine, the Chesapeake Bay, Texas, Washington, and even California. By, Kane Kashouty Man-Of –War

The Portuguese Man-of-War is a coelenterate. This means that they have stinging cells on their tentacles. The tentacles can be over 15 meters long. They also have large floats that are filled by a gas-gland inside. It would be very painful if one stings a human. Although some fish are not harmed by its sting, like the ocean sunfish. The ocean sunfish will actually eat Man-of-War.

Ben Perdue THE DARING JUMPING SPIDER

By Matt Fife

The daring Jumping Spider lives from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. It lives in rotten wood, tree trunks, dead trees, fallen limbs and gardens. It eats insects. It goes into houses and hides on windowsills and on shelves and hunts for food. It is black and white. The Morpho Didius Butterfly By Max Connor

The Morpho Didius Butterfly is a colorful sight. It is 6 in. wide and 5 in. tall. It is the largest colored morpho butterfly. The male morpho is blue and the females have brown on their upperwings. All morpho didius butterflies have white dots on the sides of their wings. They also have different color dots on the under side of their wings. They never come down to land except to drink from sandy riverbeds. Long ago Indians used their wings for ritual dances and making masks. THE MONARCH CATERPILLAR

The monarch caterpillar is black with yellow stripes. It will only eat milkweed. When it becomes a butterfly, the three pairs in front will stay and be the butterfly’s legs. The back pairs will become wings. Then it will be fully morphed into the monarch butterfly. -Sally The Starfish

The starfish in this picture is very dangerous because if you get too close, it will stick you with its stickers. They will get stuck in your foot and will not come out right away. The starfish is not a fish. It is an invertebrate. It lives in the sea. In the sea, it is a dark color and out of the sea, it changes to a light color. The starfish is the prettiest invertebrate in the sea. The starfish is shaped like a star. It got the name starfish because it moved like a fish and floats like a fish.

by Samantha The Ghost Crab

The Ghost Crab is a crab that is an invertebrate. The group that they’re in is the Crustacean group. It was named Ghost Crab because when their enemy is coming toward them, they disappear under the sand as if they were a real ghost. As you may already know, this kind of crab lives on beaches. The Ghost Crab feeds on sea turtle eggs, and hatchlings, plus sand hoppers. By Morgan Watt The Grasshopper By Stewart Beazell Grasshoppers are insects. Insects are part of a group called Arthropods. Arthropods are invertebrates. The grasshopper is green. It helps the grasshopper blend in the grass. Grasshoppers can cause damage to corn by eating ears and leaves. They also can be found on soybeans. Grasshopper nymphs were devastating the soybeans on July 15, 1996. You might have thought that they were cute but think again! Io Moth Caterpillar By Tommy Hernandez

This is a picture of the Io moth caterpillar. It looks like it has green string sticking out of it. Those little stringy things are toxic to the touch. When an enemy grabs it, the stringy things ooze out poison. When it cocoons itself, it turns into a moth. The red and white stripe is to scare away enemies. THE DESERT SCORPION

The desert scorpion could kill a single person with its poison. The scorpion is an arthropod and has 2 main body parts. It is a crustacean. I wish that I could get one some day. It has 3 pairs of legs, which means it has 6 legs. The End Wayne Norford The Railroad Worm

The Railroad Worm lives in South and Central America. The Railroad Worm is not really a worm at all but is like a worm. It can grow to be 3 inches long. If it is disturbed, it will start to glow. The reason is that it has a chemical reaction in its body. When it is glowing, it can be a yellow-green to a bright red color. I do not think it is deadly.

Anthony Matos Bulldog Ant

The bulldog ant is the largest species of ant in the world. They are found in Australia. They can grow up to be 40 mm long. The bulldog ant is active in the day and calm at night. They prefer to build their nests under bushes. The bulldog ant is an ant with a long head, large eyes, and powerful long jaws. It is an ant to be avoided because it stings like a wasp! They are deadly insects when they attack in numbers. They will finally kill you! They are poisonous insects. Approximately thirty stings can kill a full-grown man. This is becomes a problem because they will defend their nest aggressively. The bulldog ant has long legs and it has a long body.

Brian Clarry The Monarch Butterfly

by Chris Batt

It is black and orange. They lay white eggs. The caterpillar is black, yellow, orange and cream stripes. It is a common poisonous butterfly found worldwide. Animals that eat it get sick. It lays eggs on the poisonous milkweed. The butterfly drinks nectar from the flowers. They can live up to 8 or 9 months. In the fall, they fly from Canada and the US to Mexico, where they live in the winter that is over 2000 miles. Lingus Tree Snail

by Carter

One thousand years ago these snails came to America from Cuba on floating logs which were blown ashore by hurricanes. They now live in the hammocks of the Everglades. In the fall, after they mate, the adult snail lays 30 eggs. The eggs are never safe from their predators because they dig them up and then eat them. Their shells are 2 or 3 inches long and are spiral. They are also a big collector's item. They feed on microscopic lichens. In South Florida, the development is moving rapidly. If it does not stop, the snails will be in great danger. Ladybugs

by

Elinor Allen-Henke

Ladybugs belong to the insect group, which is the largest group of arthropods. They are 4-5 mm long. The head of the male is white and the head of the female has a large black spot. Ladybugs are vegetarians. I wanted to research ladybugs because they are my favorite arthropod. Gastrotrich

By Hunter Beasley A Gastrotrich is a microscopic animal that has cilia to help it move. The Gastrotrich is common in aquatic environments worldwide and has sticky tubes along the sides of its body for clinging to things. They are found in oceans, marshes and even puddles! Most freshwater species are entirely female. The Gastrotrich ranges in size from 0.1 to 1.5 mm. (0.004 to 0.06 inches). Adonis Blue Butterfly

This butterfly is threatened in its grassland habitat in France. It is now protected by law. It hangs out with other butterflies in big fields. It passes the winter in its chrysalis stage and in the late spring it comes out. You can only see this butterfly in France in fields of wildflowers.

Mariah Martin THE PUSS MOTH CATERPILLAR

BY NICK A PAYNE

This caterpillar has a few tricks up its sleeve if it is about to become lunch for a bird. It will rear up and shoot out a red string and if that doesn’t scare the bird it will shoot out a stinging formic acid. It also has huge fangs for cutting through leaves. American Brown Recluse Spider Paul Michel The American Brown Recluse spider is in the family of the recluse spider. It has been known to kill when it bites. When the spider bites it will look like a large mosquito bite. Then the bite becomes the size of a quarter. The bite swells and increases in size. Necrosis, or rotting flesh, may appear. The Brown Recluse spider is the most poisonous spider in the US. It’s seen mainly in houses. A bite occurs when the spider is disturbed while sitting in a cloth or towel or shoes. They prefer warm climates. Horseshoe Crab By Reniya Lewis

They have 5 pair of legs and a hard shell. You can step on it on the beach. If they get mad at you, they put their tail up and you step on it and it hurts. When they are born they are so little. If they get pushed over by a wave, they use their tail to flip their body back over. They are a living fossil. They are not really crabs. They are related to spiders. Blood Star By Sarajanee Davis

The Blood Star is a sea star like most others. It is a member of the group echinoderms. The blood star is usually found on rocky ocean shores. With this particular sea star, the number of arms may vary but this one usually has five. It has another name as well: Blood Henry. It takes longer than other sea stars to regenerate lost arms. This sea star was very interesting to study. The Scorpion by Meredyth

Scorpions are venomous arthropods that are classified as arachnids. The scorpions have a small tail and sting which they use to subdue prey. Some scorpions use their tails to handle prey. The desert scorpion is one of the most venomous scorpions in the world. The longest scorpion in the world is the South African scorpion. It reaches the length of 8 inches long. Scorpions are nocturnal, animals that feed on a variety of insects, spiders, centipedes and other scorpions. The average female gives birth to about 25-35 young. The average scorpion probably lives three to five years, but some species undoubtedly live atleast 10-15 years. The world's most venomous scorpion can be found in North Africa. If you get stung you will most likely die. Giant Swimming Nudibranch Dendranatus iris

By Steve Norum

Nudibranchs are sea invertebrates that can be found almost anywhere in the world, including the Antarctic. They are usually very colorful, but sometimes have camouflage. Some nudibranchs have colorful gills. Nudibranchs are essentially snails without shells. The giant swimming nudibranch eats only the tube-dwelling anemone (Pachycerianthus finbriatus). Most nudibranchs have a ribbon of teeth called a radula. The giant swimming nudibranch lives in the waters near British Columbia, Canada. It can grow up to 200 millimeters (7.8 inches) long. The Rainforest Dazzler

The Rainforest dazzler lives in South America. It's in the group of butterflies called Morphos. Morphos have brown underlings to hide them from prey. They are known to include some of the world's most dazzling butterflies. Some morpho's wings are used in the making of jewelry.

Kaylyn