You can find marine invertebrates in virtually every marine display. The most familiar invertebrates include crabs, sea anemones, jellyfishes, sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and shrimps. Even the octopus, one of the most popular attractions at the Aquarium, is an invertebrate. The Aquarium is home to some terrestrial invertebrates as well. Stick insects, spiders and a giant centipede represent the invertebrate world in the Graham Amazon Gallery.
Invertebrates thrive in a variety of habitats worldwide.
They exist on every continent, on the ground and in the air, soil and water. At the other extreme, invertebrates exist in near-freezing waters. Some marine invertebrates, including giant clams and tube worms, live on the ocean bottom near vents that expel sulfide-rich water heated to 400 C. Sulfides are poisonous to most animals, but bacteria in the tube worms bodies can metabolize the hydrogen sulfide as food. Not all invertebrates have shells. Many invertebrates have shells that protect them from predators and water loss when out of water.