Invertebrates and Vertebrates

Marine Invertebrates
Animals with no backbone
Soft bodied animals with no rigid internal structures
90% of all living and fossil animals are invertebrates
Highly varied, very diverse, group covering many phyla
Animals began to evolve a little less than 1 billion years ago
Phylum Porifera
Sponges
Simplest multicellular animals
No true tissues or organs, they are simply aggregations of specialized cells
Sessile (they don’t move), permanently attached to hard substrates
Receive nutrition from suspension or filter feeders
Shaped primarily like a vase
Feeds by water being pumped in through pores on the sides of the sponge and then move
up and out through the central cavity
It’s the flagella and the specialized collar cells that beat and move the water current through
the pores and then out through the top of sponge
Its also these cells that have a sticky collar with microvilli, this is where organic particles in
the water stick and are used by the sponge for nutrition
Phylum Cnidaria
Still very simple but next step up from sponges—evolution of specialized tissues
Permits coordinated activities: swimming, feeding, responses to external stimuli (all due to
specialized tissues)
Stinging cells called nematocysts—use to capture prey
Sea anemones, jellyfish, corals, siphonophores
All have radial symmetry, text uses term cnidablast—same as cnidaria
Most important to remember about these guys is that they have the stinging cells that they
use as defense and to capture prey
Cnidarians may exist primarily in 2 forms
Medusa (ex. jellyfish)
Polyp (ex. Sea anemone)
Certain types may have one of these body plans for a longer period of its life span than
another but many go back and forth between 2 forms
In polyp form can undergo asexual reproduction, become clones of themselves, they can
reproduce and become larger by having the division of polyps, one budding off another
Asexual reproduction doesn’t have any need for an exchange of gametes, dominates the
polyp phase of life
Medusa may be produced by a polyp either by asexual or sexual reproduction
Cnidarians in medusa phase undergo sexual reproduction in which gametes, eggs and
sperm, are produced by different individuals meet and fertilize, producing free swimming
larval stage
Class Hydrozoa
Diversity of forms and life histories
Within this class we have polyps and medusa, but also colonial hydrozoans that fall into the
group siphonopores
Pelagic predators
Powerful toxins
ex: manowar
colonial hydrozoans are hydrozoans that have diff individuals living together in a large
colony in which certain individuals are specialized for certain tasks. Some may be
specialized to catch prey and some may be specialized to digest
Class Scyphozoa
large medusae are the dominant life stage
Polyps are small and produce juvenile medusae
A few species may lack a polyp stage entirely
Large species may reach 3m diameter
Class Anthozoa
solitary or colonial polyps that lack a medusa stage
anemones (solitary), gorgonians, corals (colonial)
Phylum Ctenophora
entirely marine planktonic phylum, no freshwater
generally small and predatory
closely related to cnidarians
radially symmetrical
gelatinous
all but one posses sticky cells on tentacles, colloblasts, instead of nematocysts
tentacles to stick to prey and then bring prey to mouth
8 external longitudinal bands of cilia provide propulsion
Acoelomates and pseudocoelomates
all remaining animal phyla, except the echinoderms (starfish and sea urchins), are
bilaterally symmetric and posses and anterior cephalization—meaning on one end of their
body they have more organ and sensory systems concentrated—the head
the most primitive of these are small often overlooked inhabitants of soft sediments that
either lack an internal body cavity (the acoelomates) or have one that is very poorly
developed (the psuedocoelomates)
reason biologists classify animals based on the divisions within their body cavities is
because if you’re a more complex animal that can have true body cavities and divisions, you
have the abilitiy to develop different specialized internal organs doing special jobs, this
allows you to have increasingly complex behaviors and lifestyles
Phylum Platyhelminthes
- some of the primitive worm like organisms
3 classes
turbellaria
free living
predominantly benthic (live around the bottom)
trematoda (generally parasidic)
flukes
cestoda (generally parasidic)
tapeworms
Tubellaria
dorse ventrally flattened
simplest organism with tissues organized into organs and organ systems
very simple central nervous system: simple brain and nerve cords running from the brain
throughout the body
coordinates movements of a well developed muscular system
blind gut (only one opening to digestive system)
(on worm diagram)
ganglia and eye spots on the head area, this is the region we would say has interior
cephalization
ventral nerve cords running down the sides of body allowing for coordinated movements
which makes the animal better able to have complex behaviors that would aid it in preying
on organisms and eating, and also escaping from predators
only one pharynx, so there is just one opening to the gastrointestinal cavity
Phylum Nematoda
Nematodes (roundworms)
Small but highly abundant, group including free living and parasitic taxa
Often live in soft sediments
Nematodes are incredibly abundant and important in soft sediments like muddy areas.
Often overlooked because so small, many microscopic.
Phylum Nemertea
ribbon worms
complete gut with a mouth and an anus—more efficient digestion and using of nutrients
circulatory system—allows for nutrients to be brought to all diff cells of body and taken
away in more efficient way
proboscis used to entangle prey
most marine—very few terrestrial or freshwater examples
longest invertebrate on the planet: one species reaches 30m in length (100 foot worm)

Chordates – contain the most advanced animal phylums

Characteristics:
- All have a notochord – stiffened structure that is the precursor to the backbone
- Have a tubular, dorsal nervous system
- Possess gill slits at some point in development (even humans)
*The tubular dorsal nerve cord will develop into the central nervous system (which has an
increasingly complex structure in the more advanced phyla.
**The gill slits are vestiges of the common ancestor of chortadates.
Tunicates AKA Urochordates
• Phylum Urochordata examples:
- Sea squirts
- salps
• Characteristics:
- fairly transparent
- gelatinous
- stiffened notochord and pharynges with gill slits (more prominent in the larval stage)
Cephalochordates – commonly called Lancelets
• Example: Amphioxus
• Characteristics:
- Laterally-compressed, have fishlike bodies
- Filter-feeders inhabiting soft bottom areas
- Are transitional from invertebrates to vertebrates
*If you look at this taxonomic classification showing the relationship between the different
chordates and the time in which they evolved, we can see that were some ancestral
chordates (probably some kind of filter-feeder) that gave rise to the tunicates and the
lancelets like Amphioxus. This is the transitional point in this ancestral key.**
Marine Animals – True Vertebrates
Marine Vertebrates
• 2 more primitive groups
- Jawless fishes and Cartilaginous fishes
• Three basic classes of Marine Fishes
1. Class Agnatha (Jawless Fishes)
- consists of the modern fish, Hagfishes and Lampreys
Characteristics:
- Eel-like bodies that lack scales
- Predators or scavengers on other fishes
- Hagfishes are marine species whereas Lampreys may be marine or diadromous (moving
between the marine environment and freshwater environment to spawn).
* Lampreys were responsible for the reductions of fishes in the Great Lakes during the
1970’s and 80s. They can be veracious predators and had a massive impact on all numbers
of different species of fish in the Great Lakes during that time period.**
Hagfishes – primarily benthic scavengers
- look for any kind of dead animal that has fallen to the bottom then move in very quickly
(being able to smell it in the water) and begin feeding on it.
- they secrete viscous slime to deter predators and periodically they tie themselves in
sliding knots to eliminate excess slime.
2. Class Chondrichthyes (Elasmobranchs)
- primarily all marine fishes that often grow to large sizes
- Examples – sharks, skates, rays, chimeras (ratfishes)
Characteristics
- Chondrichthyes (like Agnatha), lack true scales, BUT possess rough denticles.
- Evolutionarily a very old group w/ different forms of sharks that have been around for
billions of years
- highly successful group (living in almost every marine habitat)
- Wide range of feeding strategies
*Largest members are of this group are planktivorous like the whale shark. (Swim near the
surface with their mouth open filtering plankton out of the water with their gills.)
Sharks
• Primarily predators
• Adapted to live in pelagic (open water column) or demersal (along the bottom) habitats
• all have 5 (or in a few cases 6-7) gill slits on each side of their body
• Fertilization is usually internal and there are very few offspring
*Can be greatly impacted by fishing pressures because it takes a long time for them to
reach maturity.
Sensory Perception
Sharks have incredible Sensory Perception sensing vibration (of things swimming), smell,
vision
• able to sense low-frequency vibrations
– They do this by using their sensors along their lateral line (runs on each side of their
body).
• Water-borne odors
– Olfactory pits on the underside of the snout
– Water continuously flows over pits
– Detection of smell interrupted if nostrils are plugged
• Vision (very good)
– Becomes important as shark nears its prey
*will cover their eyes during an attack with a protective membrane called the matriculating
membrane
• rely on Electro-magnetic fields when their eyes are covered
– Ampullae of Lorenzini
– Chondrichthyans reproduce via internal fertilization
– They possess internal embryos that develop inside egg cases
– The egg cases are can be deposited in the environment, or are born live after
completing their development inside their mothers (incubated)
“Mermaids Purse” (EGGS DON’T LOOK LIKE TYPICAL EGGS of a reptile or bird)
Developing swell-shark embryo, Cephaloscyllium, enclosed in a tough, protective egg case.
Feeding Behavior of the Great White Shark
• Research conducted by Dr. Peter Klimley and others on Great Whites off California
• Carcharodon carcharias (ragged tooth)
• Difficult to study
– Approaching shark is dangerous
– Highly mobile
– Relatively rare and very elusive
Study Area
• South Farallon Islands (30 miles west of San Francisco, CA)
• High concentration of adult white sharks
• Reason is bc there’s an abundant amount of prey: seals and sea lions
• Attacks have been documented since 1969
• Continuous observation program began in 1987
– Videotape records during daylight hours
• Most attacks during daylight hours making visual observation practical
Feeding Strategies: Seals
Feeding Strategies: Sea Lions
Long-Lining Operations Costa Rica
Shark Fins Costa Rica
Skates & Rays
• Flattened bodies
• Most adapted to a demersal habitat
• Prey on benthic organisms
– Crustaceans mollusks and echinoderms
• Large manta rays are planktivorous
Ratfishes
• Deep-water cartilaginous fishes
• Benthic predators
- studied little
3. Class Osteichthyes (Bony Fishes)
• Osteichthyes—The Bony Fishes
– Many thousands of species of bony fishes are marine, and all but one are ray-finned.
Bony Fishes!
• Skeletons of bone!
• Thin, flexible scales!
• May have a swim-bladder (gas or oil filled)!
Body Shape!
• Directly related to lifestyle!
2
Frictional Forces!
Flat Disc!
Cylinder!
Teardrop!
Coloration!
• Tropical species may be brightly colored!
• Coloration found in chromatophores!
• Irridescent coloration found in iridophores!
• Warning coloration!
• Cryptic coloration!
• Disruptive coloration!
• Countershading!
Warning
Coloration!
3
Disruptive Coloration!
http://www.math.yale.edu/users/pjm34/diving/pics/seadragon.jpg! Australian Museum!
Cryptic Coloration!
Countershading!
4
Speed!
• Necessary attribute of many pelagic nekton!
– Capture of prey!
– Escape from predators!
• Predators may be extremely fast!
– Oceanic porpoise (Stenella) clocked at over 40
km/hr in controlled tanks!
– Killer whales can swim 40-55 km/hr!
Measuring Speed!
• Most research vessels have top speeds of
15-18 knots (27.8-33.3 mph)!
• An Olympic swimmer can go 4-5 km/hr!
• Fast fish can easily outdistance a ship!
– Fishing poles that measure speed at which line
is stripped out from reel!
Fast Fishes!
Barracuda!
Yellowfin tuna (1 m)!
Wahoo (1 m)!
Large tunas! ?!
0! 10! 20! 30! 40! 50! 60! 70! 80! 90! 100!
Burst Swimming Velocity (km/hr)!
5
Bony Fish Feeding!
• Highly diverse!
• Most carnivorous!
– Sediments!
– Water column!
– Hard surfaces!
– Other Organisms!
• Active and ambush predators!
www.saunalahti.fi
Schooling!
• Variable size: a few fishes
to several kilometers!
• Similar sized individuals!
• Visual and vibrational cues!
• Benefits!
– Reduced probability of detection!
– Confusing to predator!
– Larger and more formidable appearance!
– Rapid predator satiation!
– Reduction in drag!
Marine Reptiles
• Sea snakes"
• Marine Iguanas"
• Sea Turtles"
• Saltwater
Crocodiles"
• 􀀁Cold-blooded􀀁"
• Tropical and
subtropical"
• MUST lay their eggs
on land"
Sea Turtles!
• Legs modified into paddle-like
flippers for swimming"
• 9 species confined largely to
tropical/subtropical waters"
• Most small-medium (<1m) but
leatherbacks can grow to 2m
and weigh (1,200 lbs)"
• Many feed on jellyfish when young"
2
Marine Reptiles (Sea Snakes)!
3
Sea Snakes!
• Air-breathing inhabitants of Indo-Pacific tropical waters:
~55 species"
• Coastal estuaries, coral reefs, open sea"
• Often schooling aggregations"
• Feed on small fish or squid, which are killed with powerful
venom"
• Not aggressive but human fatalities have occurred"
• Few predators: sharks, saltwater crocodiles, raptors"
Marine Iguanas!
• Marine lizard
endemic to
Galapagos islands"
• Herbivorous: graze
on seaweeds"
• Salt-glands on nose
to eliminate excess
salts"
• Recently observed
feeding on land for
first time"
Images from http://www.on-the-matrix.com/south_america/marine-iguana.htm!
4
Saltwater
Crocodiles!
• Largest living
crocodilians:
6-7 m long"
• Eggs laid and
incubated on
land"
• Tropical & subtropical"
1
Marine Mammals!
• Marine Mammals!
– Three orders of mammals can be found in
the sea, including!
• Carnivora (sea otters and pinnipeds),!
• Sirenia (manatees and dugong), !
• and Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises).!
Chapter 6
Marine Mammals!
• Carnivora (sea otters and pinnipeds)!
Chapter 6
Fig. 6.31a One type of pinniped: harbor seals, Phoca.
Seals, Sea Lions and
Walruses!
• Adapted to swimming in the ocean but require access
to land for rest and breeding!
• Predators feeding on squid and fish!
• Most live in cold water
and possess a protective
layer of blubber for
insulation, food reserve
and buoyancy!
• Most are large which helps them to conserve body
heat!
2
Seals!
• Rear flippers cannot be pulled forwards!
• Move on land by pulling themselves along with their front
flippers!
• External ears absent!
• Seals represent the most abundant group of pinnipeds (Order
Pinnipedia)!
Sea Lion Seal
Image: Image: Exzooberance.com Phil Greenspun
Sea Lions!
• Also called eared
seals and includes
related fur seals!
• Possess external
ears!
• Able to move rear
flippers forward so
that they can walk
on all four limbs!
• Adult males much larger than females!
• Fur seals hunted to near extinction now all are protected!
• Can be a problem for salmon farmers or around salmon ladders
because they prey on fish!
• Fish farmers are granted depredation permits to destroy
nuisance animals!
Walrus!
• Arctic pinnipeds
possessing a pair
of distinctive tusks!
• Tusks function for
defense or to hold
on to ice!
• Feed on benthic invertebrates such as clams!
• Recent data suggests that the loss of arctic ice cover
is affecting walruses by denying them access to
feeding areas offshore!
• Abandoned pups have been observed swimming in
open water!
3
Global Change and Walruses!
• Walrus forage over the Continental shelves of the Arctic!
• Maximum dive depth =200m!
• Sea ice is retreating over the arctic and the amount of ice over the
Continental shelves is reduced each year!
• A recent paper suggests that mothers are forced to abandon pups that
they cannot feed!
Ice and Walruses!
• Walruses use the ice as a platform to rest between dives to the
bottom to feed on clams, worms, and crabs!
• In 1998 the ice retreated to waters too deep for walruses to reach
bottom in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas!
• This forced them to swim long distances to feed!
• Not surprisingly, the walruses ended up leaner than average that
year, although it􀀁s unclear how that influenced their odds of making
it through the winter!
• During 2005 summer, oceanographers observed at least nine
Pacific walrus calves separated from adult females in waters as
deep as 3,000 m in July and August 2004 in the Canada Basin of
the Arctic Ocean!
Image: Carin Ashjian
Orphaned
Pup!
• If loss of Shelf ice trends continue, we could see the
extinction of walrus in our lifetimes!
4
Sea Otters!
• Smallest marine mammal:
60-80 lbs (25-35 kg)!
• Weasel family found along
Pacific coast from California
to Siberia!
• Lacks a blubber layer so air trapped beneath dense fur
provides insulation and buoyancy!
Sea Otters!
• Forage on benthic invertebrates
and use tools!
– Stones tucked into fur used to smash open hardshelled
prey!
– Need to consume 25-30% of body mass in food
per day!
• Heavily hunted for fur until protected in 1911,
populations have rebounded but recently have
declined in Alaska due to predation by killer whales!
An Ecological Mystery!
5
An Ecological Mystery!
• Long-term study of sea otter populations along Aleutians
and Western Alaska!
• 1970s: sea otter populations healthy and expanding!
• 1990s: some populations of sea otters were declining!
• Possibly due to migration rather than mortality!
• 1993: 800km area in Aleutians surveyed!
– Sea otter population reduced by 50%!
Vanishing Sea Otters!
• 1997: surveys repeated!
• Sea otter populations had declined by 90%!
– 1970: ~53,000 sea otters in survey area!
– 1997: ~6,000 sea otters!
• Why?!
– Reproductive failure?!
– Starvation, pollution, disease?!
Cause of the Decline!
• 1991: one researcher observed an orca eating a sea otter!
• Sea lions and seals are normal prey for orcas!
• Clam Lagoon inaccessible to orcas - no decline!
• Decline in usual prey led to a switch to sea otters!
• As few as 4 orcas feeding on otters could account for the
impact!
– Single orca could consume 1,825 otters/year!
6
Recent Changes in the North Pacific!
Image Adapted from the NY Times News Service/Globe & Mail!
Based on data from Dr. J.A. Estes, USGS!
Population Increase!
Population Decrease!
Dietary Shift!
?!
Recent Changes in the North Pacific!
Image Adapted from the NY Times News Service/Globe & Mail!
Based on data from Dr. J.A. Estes, USGS!
Population Increase!
Population Decrease!
Dietary Shift!
?!
7
Recent Changes in the North Pacific!
Image Adapted from the NY Times News Service/Globe & Mail!
Based on data from Dr. J.A. Estes, USGS!
Population Increase!
Population Decrease!
Dietary Shift!
?!
Recent Changes in the North Pacific!
Image Adapted from the NY Times News Service/Globe & Mail!
Based on data from Dr. J.A. Estes, USGS!
Population Increase!
Population Decrease!
Dietary Shift!
?!
Whales, Dolphins,
Porpoises!
• Largest group of marine mammals!
• Spend entire lives in water!
• Convergent evolution has produced hydrodynamic
bodies that superficially resemble fishes!
• Warm blooded, air-breathing mammals!
• Pair of front flippers but only vestigial hindlimbs!
• Tail has a pair of fin-like flukes !
• Dorsal fin!
• Nostrils form a dorsal blow-hole!
Image: Johanna Vollenweider
8
Cetacean Diversity!
• 90 species all marine
except 5 freshwater
dolphins!
• Suborder Odontoceti
(toothed whales)!
• Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales)!
– Constitute the largest animals on the planet!
Cetaceans!
!
• Ancestors were terrestrial and entered the ocean about 55
million years b.p.!
• Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales)!
– Feed on plankton, benthos and fishes!
– Baleen plates!
– Two blowholes!
• Suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales)!
– Fish, squid and other organisms are prey!
– Teeth!
– Single blowhole!
9
Gulf of Mexico
Cetaceans!
• 28 species in northcentral
Gulf of Mexico!
Killer Whales in Gulf of Mexico!
• Estimated to be
133 in
population!
• Diet unknown!
USGS
http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/publications/tm/tm182/168.pdf!
Baleen Whales!
• Largest of the marine
mammals!
• Large baleen species include:!
– Blue whale!
– Finback whale!
– Sei whale!
– Northern and Southern Right whale!
– Humpback whale!
– Gray whale!
– Minke whale!
– Bryde􀀁s whale!
10
Baleen Whales!
Toothed
Whales!
• Toothed whales,
dolphins and
porpoises!
• Many hunt by
echolocation!
• Agile and capable
of rapid swimming!
• Deep-diving organisms: several hundred meters!
Adaptations to Deep-Diving!
• Maintenance of body temperature!
• Supply of oxygen!
– Increased blood volume!
• Humans 7% weight!
• Dogs 9% weight!
• Elephant seals 12% weight!
11
Adaptations to Deep-Diving!
• Increased oxygen capacity of blood!
– Humans 16-24 ml O2/100 ml blood!
– Elephant seals 40 ml O2/100 ml blood!
• Slowing of heart rate (bradycardia)!
– Bottlenosed dolphins at surface 90 bpm!
– Bottlenosed dolphins during dive 20 bpm!
• Restriction of blood flow to non-critical areas!
• Tolerance of anaerobic conditions!
Maintenance of Body
Temperature!
• Heat production is a function of metabolically active
volume!
• Heat loss is a function of surface area!
• Large objects cool more slowly than small objects!
Surface Area and Volume!
Surface Area!
Volume!
The larger an animal is, the greater
its volume relative to its surface
area!
12
Echolocation!
• Echolocation is bio-SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging)!
• Almost all toothed whales and some pinnipeds use echolocation
for navigation or target detection or both!
• Emit sound from nasal plugs which is focused by melon!
• Reception of returning echoes via melon and lower jaw!
• Highly developed auditory cortex for signal processing!
Migrations!
• Characteristics of many of the baleen whales and some
pinnipeds!
• Feeding grounds (high latitudes) and breeding grounds
(lower latitudes)!
California Gray Whale Migrations!
Commercial Whaling!
• Artisanal whaling permitted in USA/Canada
and a few other countries!
• Japan, Norway, and Iceland continue to hunt
whales on an industrial scale!
• Conducted under guise of scientific research
since 1987!
• Whale meat sold and provided to schools
and other institutions!
• Highly controversial issue!
13
Marine Mammals!
!
Sirenia (manatees and dugong), !
Chapter 6
Fig. 6.33 Manatee cow and calf (Trichechus).
Manatees!
• Live in warm water, marine and fresh
water!
• Only herbivorous marine mammals!
• Historically were hunted extensively,
now highly endangered!
• Greatest threat today is injury and death by boat propellers
Intertidal and Subtidal Communities
The Intertidal Zone is the zone between the high tide line and the low tide line and can
have varying coverage of water depending on the phase of the tide.
Subtidal – area below the tides (always covered by water)
*can be very difficult environments to live in
Physical Factors (1:11)
Substrate Types:
- Rocky (typical of erosional coasts)
- Sand and Mud (depositional coasts)
Physical stresses:
- Air exposure/emersion – to be exposed to air (brought above the level of the water)
- Temperature and salinity fluctuations
- Wave action
Adaptations: Air exposure (2:30)
Animals that can move seek wet areas.
Snails, chitons
Adaptations: Air exposure (3:00)
Animals that are sessile (can’t move) close up to prevent dessication and live in groups to
retain moisture
- Ex. Mussels
Adaptations: Air exposure (3:23)
Animals that can’t move are adapted to tolerate great water loss
Seaweeds, some chitons can tolerate the loss of 75-90% of
the water in their tissues
Adaptations: Temperature and Salinity Fluctuations (4:02)
• Be adapted to tolerate large temperature fluctuations
• Mobile animals can seek out wet areas where temperature fluctuations are less
• Might use a light coloration to reduce heating when exposed to the sun (snail shell)
Adaptations: Wave Action (4:34)
• Be flexible
- Ex. Seaweed
Adaptations: Wave Action (4:57)
• Strong attachments
• Live in groups
Biological Stresses (6:27)
• Predation
• Competition
– Food
– Space
• Reproductive Success
– Meroplanktonic: return of larvae to suitable adult habitat
Predation and Competition for Food (7:30)
Food can be a limiting resource that restricts the growth of a population.

Competition: Space (9:02)

Zonation (9:45)
Zonation (11:04)
Controlled by physical and biological stresses

Tolerance (11:41)
Competitive Exclusion – The elimination of one species by another as a result of
competition. (12:54)
The zone an organism occupies is controlled by physical and biological factors. (Upper limit -
set by physical factors, lower limit - set by biological factors)
Keystone Predators – Predators whose effects on their community are proportionally
greater than their abundance. (16:20)

Disturbance Hypothesis – Species diversity is highest at intermediate disturbance levels.

(18:17)
- disturbances can be in the form of predation or physical factors (a disturbance in the
intertidal zone such as a terrible winter storm with huge wave action)
*constant disturbance or very low disturbance = low diversity of species (almost nothing
can survive) because the species will be outcompeted but moderate levels of disturbance =
the greatest/highest diversity of species

Ecological Succession – how a community forms after a disturbance. (19:51)

Climax community
Adaptations: Recruitment (21:47)
How do these organisms reproduce and get their larvae back to suitable habitat?
- west coast of the US
Subtidal Communities
• Kelp Forest
• Sandy beaches and Mud flats
• Reefs
– Rocky Reefs
– Coral Reefs
Kelp Forests (0:28)
• Highly Productive
• Provides important habitat
• Found in temperate, rocky areas
• Few animals eat kelp directly (sea urchins and sea slugs are exceptions)
Kelp (1:30)
• Not vascular plants, no true roots or vascular system
• Some species can grow to be 30 m high
• Very fast growing--up to 1 m per day
Sandy Beach and Mud Flat (2:20)
• Important physical factors
– Wave action
• Substrate movement
• Physical battery
– Particle Size
• Water retention
• Burrowing
– Slope
• Water retention
• May control particle size
Sandy Beach and Mud Flat (3:49)
Particle Size
Determines interstitial space (the space between particles)
*more space between gravel than clay
How much substrate shifts
*interstitial space changes as particle size changes

Sandy Beach and Mud Flat (5:07)

• Physical Conditions
– Fairly constant temperature with depth
– Fairly constant salinity with depth
– Oxygen levels decrease with depth
• Smaller grain size = less water exchange = less oxygen
Sandy Beach and Mud Flat (5:40)
Particle Size and sorting
Determines amount of water that penetrates which determines oxygen levels
- well-sorted (course) = water drains quickly
- poorly-sorted = water blocked
- well-sorted (fine) = water drains slowly
Sandy Beaches (7:17)
• Adaptations
– Wave Action
• Live deep enough in the substrate that you are not affected
• Be able to burrow quickly after being removed by a wave
– Have a smooth shell to allow quick burrowing
– Have a ridged shell to grip the sand
– Small sand dollars accumulate iron as a weight
Sandy Beaches (8:49)
• Adaptations
– Avoid predation in a very exposed habitat
• Remain in burrow
• Diel activity pattern

Mud Flats (10:29)

• Adaptations
– Low Oxygen
• Make permanent burrow with opening to the surface to allow oxygen rich water to enter
the burrow
• Have additional oxygen carrying pigments in the blood
Sandy Beaches (11:13)
• Primary producers
– Benthic diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria
– Low primary production (<15 g C m-2 yr-1)
Mud Flats (11:46)
• Primary producers
– Benthic diatoms, macroalgae, seagrasses
– Chemosynthetic bacteria
• Use sulfur in anoxic sediments for energy
– More productive than sandy beaches
Sandy Beaches and Mud Flats (12:41)
• Secondary producers
– Deposit Feeders: Feed on organic material located on or in the sediments
– Suspension Feeders: animals that filter particles out of the surrounding water
– Interstitial Fauna: animals that live in the spaces between sand grains
• Ciliates, small polychaetes
Sandy Beach and Mud Flat Food Web (13:32)
Sandy Beaches (14:54)
Tidal range controls gradient in fauna
Mud Flat (15:47)
Fairly level, gradient not pronounced
Estuaries and Reefs
Estuary Communities
Pritchard (1967): A semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection to the
sea and within which sea water is measurably diluted with fresh water derived from land
drainage
Types of Estuaries
• Coastal Plain or Drowned River Valleys
– Rising sea level after the last ice age inundated lowlands and river mouths
• Bar-built Estuaries
– Accumulation of sediments creates sandbars and barrier islands which restricts mixing of
oceanic and fresh waters
• Tectonic Estuaries
– Land subsides and sinks below sea level
• Fjords
– Glaciers cut deep, coastal valleys which were submerged when sea level rose
Yaquina Bay
Coastal Plain Estuary (Drowned River Valley)
As sea level rose after the last glacial period ended (15,000 b.p.) river valleys were
inundated
Bar-Built Estuary
San Francisco Bay:
Tectonic Estuary
Fjord Estuary
Important Abiotic Factors:
Salinity
Temperature
Turbidity
Oxygen
Salinity - Varies greatly with distance from the mouth of the estuary
Different types of animals have adapted to different zones of salinity
Benthic animals experience fairly stable, high salinity environment (salty, dense water sinks
and is not exchanged very rapidly)
Zones
Tidal River Zone
– Upper estuary, low salinity but subject to tidal influences
Mixing Zone
– Where fresh and marine waters mix
Strong physical, chemical, and biological gradients
Nearshore Turbid Zone
– From mouth of estuary out to seaward edge of tidal plume
Zones: Horizontal Changes in Salinity
Tidal River
Zone
Mixing Zone Nearshore Turbid
Zone (Plume)
Chesapeake Bay Surface
Salinity
Vertical and Horizontal Changes in Salinity
Salt Wedge-high river output, moderate to low tidal flux
Well-mixed-low river output, moderate to high tidal flux
Partially mixed-Deeper estuaries with high river output and high tidal flux
Fjord-little mixing between fresh and salt water
Tidal Changes
The Salt Wedge moves with the tidal cycle
High Tide
Low Tide
Crab
experiences a change of 10 ppt salinty in 12 hours
Salinity and Tides
Salinity in water changes a lot during the tidal cycle
Salinity in the mud is fairly constant
Temperature
More variable than in coastal waters
Many short-term fluctuations in response to tides and runoff
Smaller volume of water heats up and cools off more rapidly
Temperature in Yaquina Bay
River
Ocean
Temperature
Extremes are more pronounced in the upper estuary
Turbidity
Influenced by river input and sometimes by strong tidal mixing
Usually lowest at mouth of estuary
Affects light penetration
May affect distribution of visual predators
Turbidity
Oxygen
May be limiting below the thermocline in highly stratified estuaries
Usually low in sediments
– Lots of decomposition going on, uses up O2
– Fine grain sediments (mud) can restrict water exchange
Pelagic Estuarine Fauna
Phytoplankton
– Diatoms and dinoflagellates
Zooplankton
– Copepods
– Decapods (mysid shrimp)
– Amphipods
– Meroplankton (barnacle larvae, crab larvae)
– Ichthyoplankton (fish larvae)
Benthic Estuarine Fauna
Benthic
– Macrophytes (sea grasses)
– Mollusks
– Crustaceans (amphipods and shrimp)
– Polychaetes
Adaptations
Changing Salinity
– Reduced permeability to surrounding water
• Crab exoskeleton
• Fish have tough scales and a mucous coating
– Active membrane pumps
• Pump water or pump ions to maintain osmotic balance
– Migrate
• Move up and down estuary to remain in the environment you are adapted to
Adaptations to Salinity Changes
Osmoconformers: organisms that cannot regulate their internal ion concentration
Osmoregulators: organisms that can maintain their internal ion concentration over a wide
range of salinities
Stenohaline: organisms that can tolerate only a narrow range of salinities
Euryhaline: organisms that can tolerate a wide range of salinities
Adaptations to Salinity Changes
Estuarine Fauna
Major groupings are determined mostly by salinity
– Marine
– Estuarine (transitional)
– Freshwater
Estuarine Fauna
Marine
– Those organisms also found in coastal environments
– Stenohaline
– Live in region near mouth of estuary, may move up estuary during high salinity periods
! Estuarine
– Year-round residents are evolutionarily derived form
marine stocks
– Euryhaline
Freshwater
– Those organisms also found in river systems
– Stenohaline
– Live in upper reaches of the estuary
Diversity
Estuaries are a low diversity, high biomass environment
– High biomass due to high primary production from nutrient inputs and benthic production
from detritus feeders
– Low diversity due to
• Fluctuating environment that requires special physiological adaptations
• Estuaries are geologically young
Diversity Due to Salinity
Lowest number of estuarine species:
Those which have to be adapted to changing salinities
Productivity
Primary production from pelagic phytoplankton is highly variable
Estuaries are areas with high amounts of organic matter
– Some is brought in by rivers
– Some is produced in the estuary
Secondary production is very high in estuaries
Productivity
Zones
Saltmarsh
Seagrass
Mudflat
Pelagic
Zones
Zones and Tides
Saltmarsh
Upper reaches of the estuary
Dominated by rooted, flowering grasses in temperate regions and mangroves in tropical
regions
Grasses serve as a trap for nutrients rich detritus
One of the most productive ecosystems on earth
300-3000 g C m-2 yr-1
Mangroves
Replace salt marsh in tropical areas
Mangroves
Zonation based on Salinty
Red Mangrove—grows at the waters edge, can tolerate fairly high salinity
Black Mangroves—can tolerate high salinity, found in the higher intertidal
region where seawater is left standing after high tide
White Mangrove—seedlings cannot tolerate flooding by seawater, found inland from Red or
black mangrove
Seagrass
Intertidal and subtidal region of the estuary
Seaweeds and seagrasses
Epiphytic diatoms live on these seaweeds
Epiphytic meiofauna (protozoans and nematodes) also live on seaweeds
Snails, bivalves, crustaceans, and polychaetes dominate the infauna
Mostly detrital based food web—little of the 12primary production is consumed by
herbivores
Mudflat and Sandbar
! Subtidal community
! Benthic algae (diatoms) are primary
producers
! Productivity is inversely correlated with grain
size (smaller grain size, higher productivity)
! Lower primary production 230 g C m-2 yr-1
for a mudflat
! Epifauna: crabs and flatfish
! Infauna: bivalves, polychaetes, shrimp
! Shore birds are important predators
Mudflat Community
4
Detritus Feeding Strategies
Deposit Feeders:
Animals that feed on
organic matter that
settles in the
sediment
Suspension Feeders:
Animals that feed on
particles suspended
in the water column
Detrital Food Web
Ecological Importance
! Important spawning and nursery grounds
for some species
– Take advantage of warmer, food rich
environment of estuary
! Flooding control—porous soils absorb
flood water
! Pollution Filter—sediment and nutrient
loads are filtered out in the salt marsh
5
Nursery Ground
Tidal Streaming
1
Coral Reefs
• Found in tropical, well-lit waters
• Created by hard portion of living and
once living organisms
• Dominant reef-building organisms
called framework builders
– Produce the matrix for the growing reef
• Corals and coralline algae produce
calcium carbonate skeletons
Global Distribution of Coral Reefs
Structural Complexity
• Much like a rainforest, it
has many levels
• Brightly lit and wellshaded
areas
• Thousands of species
of fishes and
invertebrates
live in
association
with the reef
2
Types of Corals
Corals
• Phylum Cnidaria
(jellyfish, anemones)
• Symbiotic
phytoplankton called
zooxanthellae
• Colonial organisms
made
up of individual
animals
called polyps
Polyps
• Hundreds to
thousands of polyps
connected by living
tissue
• Polyps feed on
zooplankton
that they sting
with nematocysts
• Symbiotic
zooxanthellae
contribute to
nutrition
3
Polyps
Image: DiveGallery.com!
Polyps
Image: DiveGallery.com!
Zooxanthellae
• Form of symbiosis called mutualism
• Growth of corals is strongly light-dependent
• Specialized single-celled algae derived from
dinoflagellates
• Live intracellularly and are concentrated in the
tentacles
• Also found in some anemones and the giant clam
(Tridacna)
4
Factors Limiting Reef Growth
• Temperature
– Tropical and subtropical waters (25ºN-25ºS
latitude)
– High calcification rates require warm waters
• Salinity
– Open ocean, marine salinities required
• Light
– Active reef-building suppressed below 25-50 m
– High UV can suppress corals near the surface
• Turbidity
– Cuts down available light and sediments can
smother corals
Wave Energy
• Moving water brings
nutrients and
zooplankton to
the reef
• Wave energy also
detrimental to corals,
particularly branching
forms
• Tropical storms can exert massive
damage on reefs
Types of Reefs
• General division: atolls and coastal reefs
• Atolls are horse-shoe or ring-shaped
islands that cap an island of volcanic
origin
• Coastal reefs border continental coasts
– Fringing reefs
– Barrier reefs
• The Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of
Australia is over 2000 km long
5
Atolls
Atoll Formation
• Corals grew upward
from
the top of a sinking
volcano
From Atoll to Guyot
6
Fringing Reefs
A thin layer of corals on a subtidal coast
Barrier Reefs
• Separated from mainland by a deep channel
• Great Barrier Reef off Australia or barrier reefs
off Belize
Predation/Bio-erosion
• Corals are continually under attack
• Invertebrates bore into the coral
• Parrot fish and surgeon fish rasp away
at coral surfaces
• Sea urchins bore into corals and
crevices
• Sponges dissolve corals
• Bio-erosion produces tons of finegrained
sediments (coralline sands)
7
Biological Interactions
• Herbivores exert a strong influence on
the species composition of the reef
– Many species of
fishes are
herbivorous
– Parrot and surgeon
fishes specialized in
scraping algae
from coral rock
– Urchins can denude a reef of its algae
Predation on Corals
Coral Reef Food Web
8
Production on Coral Reefs
• Coral Reefs are very productive, even though they exist in
nutrient poor waters
• Nitrogen fixing bacteria provide an important source of
nutrients on the reef
• Nutrients are recycled between the coral and the
zooxanthellae
Biological Interactions
• Space is limiting on
coral reefs
– Large numbers of
species coexist and
space is often fully
utilized
– Many species can only
expand by overgrowing
neighbors
– Corals can out-shade
neighbors
– Corals are not
defenseless … they can
exude digestive
filaments to attack and
kill neighboring colonies.
Biological Interactions
• Soft corals are
somewhat mobile and
can quickly colonize
free space on reefs
• Soft corals grow
rapidly because they
do not secrete a
calcium carbonate
skeleton
9
Diversity on the Reef
• High diversity of fish species live on reefs
• Competitive exclusion may be avoided
because each species has a particular
ecological niche
– Each species utilizes slightly different
resources of food and space on the reef and
so are not competing directly
Symbiotic Relationships
• There are many symbiotic relationships
between species on coral reefs
– Facultative symbiont: a symbiont that does
not completely depend on its partner and can
survive outside of the symbiotic relationship
(anemonefish and anemone)
– Obligate symbiont: a symbiont that depends
on its partner and cannot live outside the
symbiotic relationship (giant clam and
zooxanthellae)
Stresses
• Diseases can devastate the dominant
species on a reef
• Coral bleaching is a widespread, but
poorly understood phenomenon
• Bleaching involves the expulsion of
zooxanthellae
• Response to stress from other sources
– High temperature and salinity
10
Coral
Bleaching
Coral Bleaching
Flower Garden Banks
11
Flower Garden Banks
Artificial (Eternal) Reefs
Artificial (Eternal) Reefs
Marine Resources 2/21/2015 9:29:00 PM

Marine Resources!
• Energy!
• Biological (food and medicine)!
• Nonextractive (transportation,
deposition)!
• All of these are either renewable, or
nonrenewable!
Petroleum
Other abiotic resources!
• Methane Hydrates (energy)!
• Sand and gravel (construction)!
• Salt (construction and consumption)!
• Magnesium (metal construction)
Fisheries!
• Most commercial fishing
is done with large, midwater
trawls!
• Not selective, catch
everything!
• Many species are
discarded as bycatch
• Dramatic declines in
fisheries takes, even
though fishing
technologies have
improved
Quizzes
Invertebrates Intro
What key factor supported the rise of animals?
The evolution of microbes into oxygen-producing cyanobacteria allowed for oxygen to be
produced and to accumulate in the atmosphere to levels that could support the life and
growth of animals

What are invertebrates?

Soft-bodied animals with no rigid internal structures

Animals closely related to Cnidarians that have eight rows of cilia for propulsion are
_______. What is one key difference between these animals and cnidarians in how they
capture prey?
Phylum Ctenophora. Ctenophores have sticky cells to capture prey called colloblasts instead
of nematocysts.

What are the two body forms cnidarians can have?

Polyp and medusa

What specialize structures do cnidarians have to capture food?

Nematocysts

Within the phylum Cnidaria, organisms are divided into several different classes. Which
class has the polyp body form exclusively? Give an example of a member of this class
Class Anthozoa. Anemones and corals (and gorgonians--soft corals) are members of this
class

Class Hydrozoa is a very diverse class, but we are probably most familiar with one member
of this group. What do we call hydrozoans that are colonial? What is an example of a
member of this group and why would you try to avoid it at the beach?
Siphonophores are the group of colonial hydrozoans. The Portuguese man of war is probably
the most familiar siphonophore. You would want to avoid it because it has powerful toxins
which aid it in catching prey.

What are the simplest multicellular animals? List two facts about these animals
Sponges, Phylum Porifera are the simplest multicellular animals. They have no true tissues
or organs, they are sessile, and they are suspension feeders
Animals in Phylum Cnidaria are one evolutionary step up from the most simple
animals. What is the key evolutionary trait they advanced and why is it so
important? Name a few examples of animals from this group.
The key advancement was to have specialized tissues. This allows the animal to have coordinated
activities like swimming, feeding, and responding to external stimuli. Sea anemones, jellyfish, corals, and
siphonophores are all members of this group.

Acoelomates and Psudocoelomates

What defines an a coelomate? A pseudocoelomate?
Acoelomates lack an internal body cavity. Pseudocoelomates have a poorly developed
internal body cavity.

What is a phyla of worms that are highly abundant, small in size, and often found in soft
sediments?
Nemoatoda

Members of the class Tubellaria (Phylum Platyhelminthes) have some important

evolutionary advancements over the Cnidarians and Ctenophores. What are they?
These are the simplest organisms to have organs and organ systems. They have a central
nervous system and a 'brain' area (anterior cephalization) that allows them to have
coordinated movements of their muscular system

Ribbon worms are the common name for worms in the phylum Nemertea. What important
evolutionary advances do they have over Platyhelminthes (like the Tubellarians) and the
nematodes?
They have a complete gut with mouth and anus and a circulatory system

Coelomates
Phylum Mollusca has some of the most commercially important species we harvest and also
some of the most intelligent invertebrates know. List the three classes besides
Polyplacophora and give one sample organism from each.
Gastropoda-snails, limpets, abalone, nudibranchs, pteropods; Bivalvia-clams, mussels,
oysters, scallops; Cephalopoda--octopuses, cuttlefish, squid, nautilus

What is the characteristic that defines coelomates?

They have a true coelom (internal body cavity). The digestive tracts is separated from the
body wall

What are the adaptations that cephalopods have that allow them to be highly mobile and
effective visual predators?
They have a complex nervous system, they have a reduced or no shell, they have adapted
the siphon for locomotion instead of filter feeding, and they have large eyes

Although echinoderms are one of the more advanced invertebrates, what characteristic do
they share with Cnidarians that makes them different from the other more advanced
invertebrates?
They have radial symmetry in their adult stage

The Phylum Annelida which contains the earthworms we are all familiar with, also has the
highly diverse Class Polychaeta. What are two of the ways that polychaet worms feed?
Different species of polychaete feed by ingesting organic rich sediments, preying on other
animals, or using tentacles to filter feed

What is a prehistoric group of arthropods that is still living today? How are they ecologically
important?
Horshow crabs. When spawning in mass, they lay millions of eggs that are an important
food source for migrating birds

What do arthropods have to do to grow? What kind of growth pattern results from this?
Arthropods need to shed their exoskeleton and create a new, larger one. This is called
molting. It results in a stair step pattern of growth where individuals maintain the same size
for the time period between molting and then show a sudden increase in growth at the time
of molting.

The largest group of marine anthropoids are in Class Crustacea. What is the largest group
of crustaceans? Give an example organism from this group
Decapods are the largest group of crustaceans. They include the crabs and lobsters.

List four different echinoderms

Sea stars, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, feather stars

What are some of the key characteristics of members of the Phylum Arthropoda?
They have a exoskeleton made of chiton and jointed appendages

Chordates
What are the two groups of the most primitive chordates and give an example organisms
for each
The urochordates which includes sea squirts (tunicates) and slaps and the
cephalochordates, the lancets.

All of the most advanced animal phylums are in a group we call chordates. What are the
characteristics of all chordates?
Chordates have a notocord, a tubular dorsal nervous system, and possess gill slits at some
point in their development

What is the evolutionary significant of the cephalochordates?

They are the transitional organisms from invertebrates to vertebrates

Agnatha and Chondrichthyes

How do the largest members of the sharks and ray feed? (whale shark and manta ray)
They are planktivorous (feed on plankton)

What are some of the main characteristics of skates and rays?

They have flattened bodies and are adapted to a demersal (living on the bottom) habitat
where they prey on benthic organisms (organisms that live on or in the sediments)
What is different about the feeding strategy of great white sharks when they are preying on
seals versus sea lions? Why might this be?
The shark will attack the sea lion two times, rather than once as in the case of the seals,
before attempting to eat it. This is because sea lions are larger and more formidable than
seals and could injure the shark if they are only wounded but not dead.

What are the three classes of marine fishes? Give an example for each.
Agnatha, the jawless fishes (lampreys and hagfish); Chondrichthyes, sharks skates and
rays; Osteichthyes, the bony fishes (tuna, cod, etc.)

How do hagfish deter predators?

They secrete large amounts of slime

What are some of the main characteristics of hagfish and lampreys?

They lack jaws, have eel-like bodies that lack scales, and they are either predators or
scavengers.

What is one of the largest threats that sharks face and one reason why?
Sharks are in danger of being overfished. Longline fishing operations kill thousands of
sharks each year for products like shark fin soup.

What are the main characteristics of the Chondrichthyes?

They have skeletons of cartilage, they lack true scales (have denticles), and they have a
large range of feeding strategies

What are the four ways sharks can sense things in the environment such as prey?
Low-frequency vibrations, odors, visually, and electromagnetic fields

What are the main characteristics of sharks?

They are primarily predators, have internal fertilization and so have few offspring and take a
long time to reach maturity

What significant ecological impact are lampreys responsible for?

They are responsible for the reductions of fishes in the Great Lakes in the 1970s and 80s

What are the main characteristics of the ratfishes?

They are deep-water cartilaginous fishes that feed on benthos organisms

Osteichthyes
What are some of the benefits of schooling?
Reduces the probability of an individual being detected, confusing to a predator, the school
has a larger and more formidable appearance than an individual, predators are rapidly
satiated, and there is a reduction in swimming drag

What is countershading and how is it beneficial?

Countershading is when an organism in light colored on it's underside and dark colored on
the dorsal (top) side. This is benefial for camouflage in open water because the fish blends
into the light coming from the surface when observed from underneath and blends into the
dark water below when observed from above.

Osteichthyes have a huge variety of body shapes. What dictates the body shape?
The lifestyle of that species: habitat, how it feeds, etc.

What are the main characteristics of the osteichthyes?

They have skeletons of bone, thin, flexible scales, and many have a swim bladder (gas or oil
filled)

Which body shape has the least amount of drag as it moves through the water?
Teardrop shape

What are two types of coloration that fish may use to hide or confuse predators?
Disruptive and cryptic coloration

What is warning coloration?

Fish that are poisonous may be brightly colored to warn predators

Why do some pelagic fish need to be fast?

To escape predators and capture prey

Marine Reptiles
How do sea snakes kill prey?
They have a very powerful venom

How do marine iguanas feed?

They dive to the bottom and graze on seaweeds

All marine reptiles need to have access to land at some point. Why?
They need to lay their eggs on land

What are the 4 groups of marine reptiles?

Marine iguanas, sea snakes, sea turtles, and saltwater crocodiles

What do many sea turtles feed on when young?

Jellyfish. (Sometimes they mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them which can result in
death)

What are the largest marine reptiles?

Marine crocodiles

What areas of the oceans are reptiles restricted to and why?

They are restricted to tropical and subtropics areas because they are cold-blooded

Marine Mammals
What caused the huge decline in sea otters in the 20th century? What caused a recent
decline in populations in Alaska?
They were hunted nearly to extinction for their fur. Recently, some killer whales switched to
eating sea otters in Alaska and caused a huge decline in some populations

What are the three orders of marine mammals?

Carnivora (sea otters and pinnipeds), Sirenia (manatees and dugong), and Cetacea (whales,
dolphins, and porpoises)

What is a method that almost all toothed whales use to navigate and detect prey?
Echolocation

What is a typical annual migration pattern of baleen whales?

They spend time feeding in high latitudes where there is greater productivity and they
migrate to warm lower latitudes to breed

What is an example of convergent evolution between cetaceans and fish?

The hydrodynamic, tear-shaped bodies that enable them to swim fast

What are the main characteristics of manatees?

They live in warm water (marine and fresh), they are the only herbivorous marine mammal

What are the two groups of cetaceans? What does each group primarily eat?
The Odontoceti (the toothed whales) which eat fish and squid and the Mysticeti (baleen
whales) which eat plankton and small fishes
What are some of the adaptations to deep diving that marine mammal have?
Increased oxygen capacity of the blood, slowing of the heart rate, restricting blood to only
critical areas of the body, and a high tolerance to anaerobic conditions

What are two anatomical differences between seals and sea lions that can help you tell
them apart?
Seals have no external ears but sea lions do. Seals cannot pull their rear flippers forward,
but sea lions can

Why do seals, sea lions, and walruses need access to land?

To rest and for breeding

What is the advantage of being big? Having a large body size?

A large animal has a greater volume relative to its surface area and this helps it to maintain
heat

How is the loss of sea ice affecting walruses?

Walruses feed on clams, etc. on the bottom and they need to have access to ice for their pups to rest that
is near the area where they feed. As the sea ice melts and retreats away from shallower areas where
they can access food, mothers have to abandon their pups in order to remain where they can feed

QUIZ 12 (Invertebrates and Vertebrates)

Name two different coloration strategies that bony fishes use and what the purpose of the
strategy is.

What are two ways that sharks can sense prey?

Low-frequency vibrations (Lateral line), Water-borne odors (Olfactory pits on the underside
of the snout), Vision, Electro-magnetic fields (Ampullae of Lorenzini)

What do the largest members of the chondrichthyes and the cetaceans have in common?
They are planktivorous

What important evolutionary advancement did Cnidarians make over sponges and what
does it allow them to do?
Answer: They have nematocysts to capture prey
The correct answer is: Cnidarians evolved specialized tissues which sponges do not have.
This permits coordinated activities such as swimming, feeding, and response to external
stimuli

Give an example of a cephalopod and two characteristics of this group of animals.

Cephalopods include squid, cuttlefish, octopus, and nautilus. They have modified their
siphon for propulsion, are highly motile with large eyes, and have a complex nervous
system

What do sea turtles and other marine reptiles still depend on land for?
To lay their eggs

What evolutionary advancement do Turbellarians have over Cnidarians?

Answer: They have a central nervous system and a 'brain' area (anterior cephalization) that
allows them to have coordinated movements of their muscular system
The correct answer is: They have tissues organized into organs and organ systems

What animal is transitional between invertebrates and vertebrates? What are two
characteristics it and all other chordates possess?
Answer: cephalochordates; Chordates have a notocord, a tubular dorsal nervous system,
and possess gill slits at some point in their development
The correct answer is: Amphioxus or lancets. It has a notochord, a tubular dorsal nervous
system, and gill slits at some point in development.

What are two adaptations to deep diving that marine mammals use?
Increased oxygen capacity of blood, Slowing of heart rate (bradycardia), Restriction of blood
flow to non-critical areas, Tolerance of anaerobic conditions

What change on Earth made the rise of animals possible and how did this happen?
Answer: Increasing accumulations of Oxygen
The correct answer is: Photosynthetic bacteria produced oxygen and when enough built up
in the atmosphere it made it possible for animals, which require oxygen, to thrive

Intertidal
What are some adaptations to temperature and salinity fluctuations?
Animals have adapted to be tolerant of these fluctuations and some have developed light
coloration to decrease their temperature fluctuations. Motile animals can seek out wet areas
where the fluctuations are not as great

What are the biological stresses in the intertidal zone?

Predation, competition (food and space), and reproductive success

What are the physical stresses of living in the intertidal zone?

air exposure (emersion), temperature and salinity fluctuations, and wave action

What is competitive exclusion?

The elimination of one species by another due to competition

What are some adaptations to wave action?

Organisms can be flexible, have strong attachments, and live in groups to decrease the
wave force

What are some adaptations to deal with air exposure (emersion)?

Motile animals can move to wet areas. Sessile animals can close their shells, live in groups
to maintain moisture, or be tolerant of water loss (seaweeds)

What controls the zonation of organisms in the intertidal zone?

A combination of physical and biological stresses. Biological stresses are more important in
the lower part of the intertidal zone and physical stresses are more important in the upper
part of the intertidal zone

What is a keystone predator?

A predator whose effect on its community is proportionally greater than it's abundance

Most all intertidal organisms have planktonic larvae. How do they ensure the larvae will end
up in a suitable habitat when they are mature?
They time the release of larvae when physical conditions in the open ocean are suitable for
the return of the larvae to shore. If larvae are released during coastal upwelling, they will
move offshore, but then be transported back onshore by newly upwelled water when they
reach the upwelling front

Under what level of disturbance will we find the most diverse communities? Why?
Answer:

Subtidal
Where are kelp forests found and how are they ecologically important?
Kelp forests are found in temperate waters with rocky bottoms. They are highly productive
and provide important habitat

Do sandy beaches and mudflats have high primary production? What do many of the
deposit and suspension feeders rely on as a food source?
They have low primary production. Many consumers rely on detritus as a food source

What are some examples of subtidal communities?

Kelp forests, sandy beaches and mudflats, and reefs (rocky and coral reefs)

What does particle size determine on a beach or mudflat?

How much space there is between the grains and how much the substrate will shift around.
The affects how easy it is to burrow in and how much water is retained as well

What are some adaptations organisms have to wave action?

They can live deeply enough in the sediment they are not affected and/or be able to burrow
quickly after they are disturbed by a wave

What is an adaptation to avoid predation?

Have a dial activity pattern. Some organisms are active at the surface only at night at low
tide to avoid both aquatic predators and terrestrial predators

What physical factors are most important for organisms living on the sandy beach and
mudflat?
Wave action, particle size, and slope of the beach

What controls the amount of oxygen in the sediment?

The amount of oxygen is controlled by the amount of water exchange which is determined
by the particle size. The greater the water exchange, the higher the oxygen levels

What are the general physical characteristics of the sandy beach and mudflat?
Temperature and salinity are fairly constant with depth, but oxygen decreases with depth

What are some adaptations to low oxygen conditions?

Some animals build a permanent burrow that allows fresh water to flow through. Others
have increased oxygen carrying pigments in their blood to be tolerant of low oxygen
conditions

What controls the gradient or zonation of organisms on a sandy beach? A mudflat?

The total range controls the zonation on the sandy beach and the mudflat is fairly level and
has little or no zonation

QUIZ 13 (Intertidal and Subtidal Communities)

What factors do organisms in the upper portion of the intertidal zone need to be adapted
to? What do the organisms in the lower reaches need to be adapted to?
In the upper regions, air exposure and temperature and salinity fluctuations are the factors
that organisms need to be adapted to. In the lower reaches, organisms need to be adapted
to wave action and biological competition

In the example of the two barnacle species that settled next to each other, briefly describe
the factors that determined the final zonation pattern?
One species was more tolerant of air exposure and so it ended up dominating the upper
portion of the settlement area. The other species could outcompete the first species and so
it dominated in the lower portion of the settlement area

What controls the lower limit of a species distribution in the intertidal zone?
competition, competitive exclusion

You encounter a subtidal community that has almost no slope and a very small grain
size. What is this community? What major physical factor do the organisms that live here
need to be adapted to and what is at least one adaptation you may find here?
This is a mudflat. Organisms need to be adapted to low oxygen conditions. Some build
permanent burrows to bring freshwater in and some have increased oxygen carrying
capacity in their blood

How do amphipods on a sandy beach avoid predators and being swept away by the tide?
They are only active at low tide at night

What does particle size determine on a beach or mudflat?

How much space there is between the grains and how much the substrate will shift around.
The affects how easy it is to burrow in and how much water is retained as well

Why is there less biological zonation on a mud flat than a sandy beach?
The lower slope means there is less zonation in water retention of the substrate and so
fewer physical differences

What are the biological stresses in the intertidal zone?

Predation, competition (food and space), and reproductive success

What are two adaptations to dealing with wave energy in the intertidal and subtitle zones?
Be flexible, have a strong attachment, live in groups

Estuaries Intro
What is an estuary?
A semi-enclosed coastal body of water with a free connection to the sea and in which
seawater is diluted by freshwater from the land

Where is turbidity in a estuary highest? Why? How does it affect organisms living in the
estuary?
Turbidity is highest in the upper estuary because sediments are delivered by rivers.
Turbidity affects light penetration and so can affect visual predators and primary producers
that need light for photosynthesis

What are the important physical (abiotic) factors that organisms who live in estuaries must
be adapted to?
Salinity, temperature, turbidity, oxygen
How does salinity change in the water column and the sediments of an estuary with the tidal
cycle?
Salinity increases with the high tide in the water column but remains fairly constant in the
sediments

Why does the temperature in an estuary vary more than the coastal ocean? What part of
the estuary has greater temperature fluctuations?
A smaller body of water heats up and cools down more quickly. The upper part of an
estuary experiences greater temperature fluctuations

Where is oxygen low in an estuary? Why?

Oxygen can be low below the thermocline in a highly stratified estuary because the water
below the thermocline does not mix with the oxygen rich surface waters. Oxygen is also low
in the sediments because there is a lot of decomposition occurring and the microbes that
undergo this process use oxygen. Also, the fine grain sediments do not allow much oxygen
exchange

What are the four types of estuaries?

Drowned river valley, bar built, tectonic, fjord

Estuarine Organisims and Adaptations

How are estuarine organisms adapted to changing salinity?
The have reduced permeability to seawater (shells), active membrane pumps that regulate
their internal salinity, and they can migrate-move up and down the estuary to stay in the
same salinity over a tidal cycle

Why do estuaries have low diversity?

Estuaries have high disturbance because of the constantly fluctuating physical environment.
Also, estuaries are geologically young and so there has been a short time for species to
adapt and become truly estuarine and so there are not large numbers of estuarine species

What does it mean to be stenohaline versus euryhaline?

An organism that is stenohaline can tolerate a narrow range of salinites while an organism
that is euryhaline can tolerate a wide range of salinities

What is an osmoconformer? An osmoregulator?

Answer:

Estuaries are highly productive communities, but primary production is highly

variable. What is the other source of food that supports the high secondary production
(growth of consumers)?
Estuaries have large amounts of organic matter (detritus). Some is brought in by rivers and
some is produced in the estuary

Estuaries Zones
Where is the seagrass zone found? What is the basis of the food web in this zone?
Seagrasses are found in the intertidal and subtidal areas. The food web is based on detritus
as much of the primary production that occurs here in the form of the growth of the grasses
is not consumed directly by herbivores
Where is the salt marsh zone in an estuary? What are it's main characteristics?
The saltmarsh is in the upper reaches of the estuary. It is dominated by rooted, flowering
grasses in temperate regions and mangroves in tropical regions. The plants trap detritus
and this is one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth

What is the ecological importance of estuaries?

They are important nursery grounds for fish and other organisms, they provide flooding
control, and they filter pollution from runoff before it reaches the ocean

Where is the mudflat zone? How does the grain size of the sediment affect the productivity?
The mudflats are found in the subtidal and lower intertidal zones. Productivity is inversely
related to grain size (smaller grain size, higher productivity)

What is tidal streaming?

Tidal streaming is a behavior where an organism moves up in the water column on a flood
tide and down in the water column on an ebb tide in order to try to maintain position in the
estuary

Coral Reefs
What are zooxanthellae?
A specialized dinoflagellate that has adapted to live as a symbiont in corals and some
anemones and giant clams

What is coral bleaching?

When corals expel their zooxanthellae due to some stressor

Where are coral reefs found?

In tropical, well-lit waters

How do corals compete with each other for space on the reef?
They can out shade each other and they can exude chemicals to attack neighboring corals

What is so special about the Flower Garden Banks?

The are the most northerly coral reefs on Earth

What is an atoll?
A reef that grows up from the rim of a sunken volcano

Why is there such high diversity on coral reefs?

Competitive exclusion is avoided because there are so many different niches

What limits the growth or coral reefs?

Low temperatures, low salinity, low light, and high turbidity which reduces light and can
smother the polyps

What is a fringing reef? A barrier reef?

A fringing reef is a reef that is directly in the subtidal coastal zone. A barrier reef is a reef
that is separated from the mainland by a channel

How is wave energy both beneficial and detrimental to reefs?

Waves bring nutrients and zooplankton to the reef and can be detrimental if the wave
energy is too great and it physically damages the corals

What is an ecological niche?

The particular space and food resources that an animal utilizes

How do corals feed?

The polyps capture zooplankton and the corals benefit from the nutrition they get from the
symbiotic zooxanthellae

QUIZ 14 (Estuaries and Reefs)

Marine Resources
What is a nonrenewable energy resource? A renewable one?
Petroleum is nonrenewable. Wind or tidal energy is renewable

At what population density do we see the maximal growth rates in a population? Why
would this be important to fisheries managers?
Maximal growth rate occurs at an intermediate density. This is the point where a fish
population would be giving it's optimal yield for fishing--this would be the ideal condition to
try to keep the population in to ensure the fishery is sustainable
What are the two main types of extractive resources?
Energy and biological resources (food or medicine)

What are two abiotic (non biological) marine resources besides petroleum?
Methan hydrates, sand and gravel, salt, magnesium are four possible answers

What is the largest fishery in terms of amount of fish caught?

Anchovy fishery

What is the main environmental issue with using large, mid-water trawls for fishing?
They are not selective--they catch any type of organisms that it encounters and so many
species that are not the target of the fishery, are killed and discarded as bycatch

What are some of the advantages of aquaculture? Disadvantages?

Aquaculture avoids bycatch and environmental destruction from trawling. The main
disadvantage is that the waste can pollute the environment

What is an example of a non-extractive resource?

Transportation or deposition (depositing waste)

Marine Environment
Excluding major oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon event, what is the source of most of
the oil in the ocean?
Natural seeps

Where do we see the greatest human impacts on the oceans?

In coastal areas

What is the major effect of rising ocean temperatures at the poles?

Decreased ice cover

What is the main source of pollution in the ocean?

Runoff from the land

Briefly describe the concept of biomagnification using the example of DDT

Biomagnification is the process by which a pollutant becomes more concentrated in an
organisms with each increasing trophic level. In the case of DDT, this chemical was passed
up the food web to birds where the concentrations were high enough to result in thin egg
shells making them nonviable and having huge impacts on bird populations

The rising concentration of what greenhouse gas is highly correlated with rising global
temperatures?
carbon dioxide

What is one of the major effects of melting polar ice caps?

Rising sea level

What is the main way that decreasing pH in the oceans will affect organisms?
Decreased pH will lead to increased dissolution of calcium carbonate and other compounds
that animals use to build shells and this will limit their growth and could eventually lead to
their death and extinction

How does rising ocean temperature affect corals?

Higher temperatures cause stress and leads to coral bleaching

Why are the oceans becoming more acidic?

The increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are being dissolved in the
oceans and are overwhelming the ocean buffering capacity

Where are most of the plastics in the ocean concentrated?

In the ocean gyres

Bonus Quizzes:

Coral Seas

1. What is inside the packages that some corals release during reproduction?
Answer: eggs and sperm
2. What fish plays a role in erosion of the coral reef?
Answer: hunphead parretfish

Ocean World
Open Ocean

Polar Seas

Seasonal Seas

The Deep
Exam 4 May 6th
Golden Seal Video - what organisms does the seal encounter; impacts of
man on seals; location of the voyage; how did seals interact with one
another

https://quizlet.com/80898735/ocs-1005-final-exam-sutor-flash-cards/

what key factor supported the rise of animals?

the evolution of microbes into oxygen producing photosynthetic bacteria

what are colonial hydrozoans called?

siphonophores

what is the most common siphonophore and why is it dangerous?

portugese man of war b/c it produces a powerful toxin for catching prey

what are the simplest multicellular animals?

phylum porifera (sponges)

what is the key evolutionary trait that separates phylum Cnidaria from the
simplest animals?
specialized tissues that allow for coordinated movement

what specialized structures do cnidarians have to capture food?

nematocysts

what is one key difference between how Ctenophora and Cnidarians capture
prey?
Ctenophora have sticky cells to capture prey called colloblasts

soft-bodied animals with no rigid internal structures

invertebrates

what are the two body forms cnidarians can have?

polyp and medusa
which class within the Cnidaria has the polyp body form exclusively?
anthozoa

phyla of worms that are highly abundant, small in size, and often found in
soft sediments
nemoatoda

lack an internal body cavity

acoelomate

have a poorly developed internal body cavity

pseudocoelomate

what important evolutionary advancement does Turbellaria (Phylum

Platyhelminthes) have?
organs and organs systems

what important evolutionary advances do Ribbon worms from the phylum

Nemertea have?
have a complete gut w/ mouth and anus and a circulatory system

what prehistoric group of arthropods is still alive today and how are they
ecologically important?
horseshoe crabs that spawn in mass and lay millions of eggs that are an
important food source for migrating birds

what do arthropods have to do to grow?

need to shed their exoskeleton and create a new, larger one (molting)

what kind of growth do arthropods experience?

step-wise growth

what characteristic do echinoderms share with cnidarians?

have radially symmetry in adult stage

what is the largest group of crustaceans?

decapods

what is evolutionarily significant about the cephalochordates?

they are the transitional organisms from invertebrates to vertebrates

what significant ecological impact are lampreys responsible for?

the reduction of fishes in the Great Lakes in the 1970s and 1980s

what are four ways sharks can sense things in the environment such as
prey?
low-frequency vibrations, odors, visually, and electromagnetic fields

what is one of the largest threats that sharks face and why?
in danger of being overfished, longline fishing operations kill thousands of
sharks each year for products like shark fin soup

what dictates body shape of osteichthyes?

their lifestyle of the species

why do some pelagic fish need to be fast?

to escape predators or catch prey

which body shape has the least amount of drag as it moves through the
water?
teardrop shape

what are the 4 groups of marine reptiles?

marine iguanas, sea snakes, sea turtles, and saltwater crocodiles

why do all marine reptiles need to have access to land at some point?
to lay their eggs

how do marine iguanas feed?

they dive to the bottom and graze on seaweeds

what are the largest marine reptiles?

saltwater crocodiles

what areas of the oceans are reptiles restricted to and why?

tropical and subtropical areas b/c they are cold-blooded

torso-ventrally flattened, simplest organisms w/ tissues organized into

organs and organ systems, simple brain and nerve cord running from brain,
coordinates movements, blind gut
turbellaria

what is a blind gut?

only one has opening

nematodes (roundworms), small but highly abundant group including free-

living and parasites, often live in soft sediments
phylum nematoda

ribbon worms, complete gut, circulatory system, proboscis used to entangle

prey, most marine, longest invertebrate
phylum nemertea

most advanced animal phylums, have a notochord, tubular, dorsal nervous

system, posses gills at some point in development
chordates

stiffened structure that is the precursor to the backbone

notocord

phylum urochordata (sea squirts, sales), most primitive, fairly transparent,

and gelatinous
tunicates

lancelets (amphioxus), laterally-compressed, fishlike bodies, filter-feeders

inhabiting soft bottom area, are the transitional organisms from
invertebrates to vertebrates
cephalochordates
an embryonic development that separates the digestive tract from the body
wall
coelom

what ways do polychaete annelids from the phylum Annelida feed?

ingest organic rich sediments, prey on other animals, using a complex
system of tentacles to function as filter or suspension feeders

snails, limpets, abalone, nudibranchs, pteropods, coiled organs enclosed by

a spiral shell, herbivores, carnivores, and detritivores
class gastropoda

laterally-compressed enclosed in a shell with two halves, gills also function

as food-filtering apparatus, muscled close the shells and a large foot may be
present for digging, water drawn in and out of mantle cavity via siphons
class bivalvia

octopuses, cuttlefish, squids, nautiluses, complex nervous system, reduction

or loss of shell, highly mobile, large eyes, adapted siphon for locomotion
cephalopods

largest animal phylum, bilaterally symmetrical, segmented, jointed

appendages, tough exoskeleton made of chiton, growth requires molting,
rigid exoskeleton imposes limits on maximum size
Arthropoda

class of primarily aquatic organisms, internal gills, specialized appendages

for swimming, crawling, anchoring, feeding, two pairs of sensory antennae
crustacea

largest group of crustaceans and largest crustaceans, complex legs

(pereopods) and mouthparts (maxillipeds), cephalothorax, and abdomen
decapods

their blood is pharmaceutically important

horseshoe crab

sea stars, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and feather stars are all
examples
echinoderms

soft-bodied animals w/ no rigid internal structures, make-up 90% go all

living and fossil animals, highly varied group covering many phyla
invertebrates

sponges, simplest multicellular animals, no true tissues or organs

aggregations of specialized cells, sessile, permanently attached to hard
substrates, suspension or filter feeders
phylum porifera

evolution of specialized tissues, permits coordinated activities- swimming,

feeding, responses to stimuli, stinging cells called nematocysts, sea
anemones, jellyfish, corals, siphonophores, radial symmetry
phylum cnidaria

colonial hydrozoans, pelagic predators, powerful toxins

siphonophores

large medusa are dominant life stage, polyps are small and produce juvenile
medusa, few species may lack a polyp stage entirely, large species may
reach 3 m in diameter
class scyphozoa

solitary or colonial polyps that lack a medusa stage, anemones, gorgonians,

corals
class anthozoa

entirely marine planktonic phylum, small predators, closely related to

cnidarians, radially symmetrical, gelatinous, all but one posses sticky
colloblasts instead of nematocysts, eight external longitudinal bands of cilia
provide propulsion
phylum ctenophora

jawless fishes, hagfishes and lampreys, eel-like bodies that lack scales,
predators or scavengers on other fishes
class agnatha

sharks, skates, and rays

class chondrichthyes

bony fishes
class osteichthyes

how do hagfishes deter predators?

secrete a viscous slime

why do hagfishes periodically tie themselves in sliding knots?

eliminate excess slime

lack true scales, possess denticles, evolutionarily very old and very
successful, wide range of feeding strategies, largest members are
planktivorous
chondrichthyes

primarily predators, adapted to pelagic or demersal habitats, 5 (6-7) gills on

each side, fertilization usually internal, few offspring, long time to maturity,
possess internal embryos in egg cases which are either deposited or born
live after development completed
sharks

flattened bodies, most adapted to a demersal habitat, predators on benthic

organisms, largest are planktivorous
skates and rays

deep-water cartilaginous fishes, benthic predators

...

the bony fishes, all but one are ray-finned, skeletons of bone, thin, flexible
scales, may have swim bladder
osteichthyes

what is found in chromatophores?

coloration

what is found in iridophores?

irridescent

what are the different types of coloration?

warning, cryptic, disruptive, and countershading

what are the benefits of schooling?

reduced probability of detection, confusing to predator, larger and more
formidable appearance, rapid predator satiation, and reduction in drag

legs modified into paddle-like flippers for swimming, 9 species, most small-
medium sized, some large, many feed on jellyfish when young
sea turtles

air-breathing inhabitants of info-pacific tropical waters, ~55 species, coastal

estuaries, coral reefs, open sea, often schooling aggregations, feed on small
fish or squid, have powerful venom, not aggressive, have few predators
sea snakes
only found on Galapagos islands, herbivorous, salt-glands on nose to
eliminate excess salts, recently observes feeding on land for first time
marine iguanas

what three order of mammals can be found in the sea?

carnivora, sirenia, and cetacea

sea otters and pinnipeds

carnivora

adapted to swim in ocean but require access to land for rest and breeding,
predators that feed on squid and fish, most live in cold water and have layer
of blubber for insulation, food reserve, and buoyancy, most are large
seals, sea lions, and walruses

rear flippers cannot be pulled forwards, move on land by pulling themselves

along w/ their front flippers, external ears are absent, most abundant group
of pinnipeds
seals

also called eared seals b/c possess external ears, able to move rear flippers
to can walk on all four limbs, adult males larger than females, can be a
problem for salmon farmers
sea lions

arctic pinnipeds possessing a pair of distinct tusks that function of defense of

to hold onto ice, feed on benthic invertebrates such as clams
walrus

smalles marine mammal, weasel family found along Pacific coast from
California to Siberia, lacks a blubber layer so air trapped beneath dense fur
provides insulation and buoyancy, forage on benthic invertebrates and use
tools
sea otters

sea otters need to consume how much of their body mass in food per day?
25-30%

largest group of marine mammals, spend entire lives in water, convergent

evolution has produced bodies that resemble fishes, warm-blooded, air-
breathing, front flippers, w/ vestigial hindlimb, tail w/ pair of fin-like flukes,
dorsal fin
whales, dolphins, porpoises

feed on plankton, benthos and fishes, baleen plates, two blowholes

suborder mysticeti of Cetaceans

fish, squid and other organisms are prey, teeth, single blowhole, toothed
whales
suborder Odontoceti of Cetaceans

largest of marine mammals, include blue whale finback whale, sei whale,
northern and southern right whale, humpback whale, gray whale, minke
whale, and bryde's whale
baleen whales

dolphins and porpoises, many hunt by echolocation, agile and capable of

rapid swimming, deep-diving organisms (several hundred meters)
toothed whales

what are some adaptations to deep-diving?

maintenance of body temperature, supply of oxygen, slowing of heart rate,
restriction of blood-flow to non-critical areas, tolerance of anaerobic
conditions

sirenia, live on warm water, marine and freshwater, only herbivorous marine
mammals, historically were hunted extensively, greatest threat today is
injury and death by boat propellers
manatees

how is the loss of sea ice affecting walruses?

they are losing access to food and mothers are abandoning their pups

what is a method that almost all toothed whales use to navigate and detect
prey?
echolocation
what are two anatomical differences between seals and sea lions that can
help tell them apart?
seals have no external ears but sea lions do, seals cannot pull their rear
flippers forward but sea lions can

what is an example of convergent evolution between cetaceans and fish?

the hydrodynamic, tear-shaped bodies that enable them to swim fast

why do sea lions, seals, and walruses need access to land?

rest and breeding

what is a typical annual migration pattern of baleen whales?

spend time feeding in high latitudes where there is greater productivity and
migrate to warm, lower latitudes to breed

what caused a huge decline in sea otters in the 20th century? and more
recently?
hunted to nearly extinction, recent- killer whales shifted to eating sea otters
in Alaska

what are some of the adaptations to deep diving that marine mammals
have?
increased oxygen capacity of blood, slowing of the heart rate, restricting
blood to critical areas of the body, and high tolerance to anaerobic
conditions

what is the advantage of having a large body size?

helps the animal maintain heat

moving between a marine environment to a freshwater environment to

spawn
diadromus

along the bottom

demersal
why are many large animals planktivorous?
eating lower in the food web allows them to avoid the lose of energy that
occurs when energy is transferred from each trophic level

what allows sharks to sense electromagnetic fields?

ampullae of lorenzini

what is the purpose of a swim bladder?

to control buoyancy

coloration telling predators they are toxic/venomous, give example

warning, very colorful

coloration to confuse predators, give example

disruptive, eye spots or spots all over

coloration for camouflage, give example

cryptic , sea horse/dragon with fins that look like seaweed

darker/mottled coloring on upper with very light lower part, give example
countershading, common in pelagic fish

what adaptations do sea snakes have?

tail modified to swimming fin and body shape changed from terrestrial
snakes

blowholes in marine mammals are equivalent to?

nostrils

how do whales with baleen plates feed?

open mouths allowing water to rush in then push tongue to roof of mouth to
push water out trapping food in the baleen plate

why do scientists think manatees are often injured by boats?

they lack the ability to hear the sound frequency at which boat propellers
operate

what are the physical stresses of living in the intertidal zone?

emersion, temperature ad salinity fluctuations, and wave action

what are some adaptations to deal with emersion (air exposure)?

mobile animals can move to wet areas. sessile animals can close their shells,
live in groups to maintain moisture, or be tolerant of water loss

what are some adaptations to temperature and salinity fluctuations?

being tolerant, light coloration, mobile animals can seek out wet areas where
fluctuations are not as great

elimination of one species by another due to competition

competitive exclusion

what are the biological stresses of the intertidal zone?

predation, competition(food and space), and reproductive success

what are some adaptations to wave action in the intertidal zone?

organisms can be flexible, have strong attachments, and live in groups to
decrease the wave force

what controls the zonation of organisms in the intertidal zone?

combination of physical and biological stresses

biological stresses are more important in what part of the intertidal zone?
lower

physical stresses are more important in what part of the intertidal zone?
upper

a predator whose effect on its community is proportionally greater than it's

abundance
keystone predator
under what level of disturbance do you find the most diverse communities?
intermediate

how do intertidal organisms ensure their planktonic larvae will end up in a

suitable habitat when they are mature?
timing the release of larvae when physical conditions in the open ocean are
suitable for the return of the larvae to shore

what is an adaptation to avoid predation?

have a kiel activity pattern

in the subtitle zone, what are some adaptations organisms have to wave
action?
live deep enough in sediment to not be affected and/or be able to burrow
quickly after a wave disturbance

what controls the zonation of organisms on a sandy beach?

the tidal range

what controls the zonation of organisms on a mudflat?

has very little to no zonation

do sandy beaches and mudflats have primary production?

low primary production

what do many of the deposit and suspension feeders rely on as a food

source in the sandy beach/mudflat habitat?
detritus food

what are some adaptations to low oxygen conditions?

building permanent burrow that allows fresh water to flow through, have
increased oxygen carrying pigments in their blood

what physical factors are most important for organisms living on the sandy
beach and mudflat?
wave action, particle size, and slope of beach

where are kelp forests found and how are they ecologically important?
in temperate waters with rocky bottoms. highly productive and provide
important habitat

what are the general physical characteristics of sandy beach/mudflat?

temperature and salinity are fairly constant with depth, but oxygen
decreases with depth

what controls the amount of oxygen in the sediment?

the amount of water exchange, which is determined by particle size

what are some examples of subtidal communities?

kelp forests, sandy beaches and mudflats, and reefs (rocky and coral)

what does particle size determine on a sandy beach or mudflat?

hoe much space there is between grains and how much substrate will shift
around

how does salinity change in the water column and the sediments of an
estuary with the tidal cycle?
salinity increases with high tide in water column but remains fairly constant
in the sediments

where is oxygen low in an estuary?

low below the thermocline in a highly stratified estuary b/c water below
thermocline does not mix with oxygen rich surface waters. also in sediments
b/c lots of deposition occurs and fine grain sediments do not allow much
oxygen exchange

what are the four types of estuaries?

drowned river valley, bar built, tectonic, and fjord

why does the temperature vary more in an estuary then the coastal ocean?
a smaller body of water heats up and cools down more quickly

what part of the estuary has greater temperature fluctuations?

upper part

where is turbidity highest in an estuary and why?

in the upper part b/c sediments are delivered by rivers

how does turbidity affect organisms living there?

effects light penetration so can affect visual predators and primary
photosynthetic producers

what are the important abiotic factors that organisms who live in estuaries
must be adapted tot?
salinity, temperature, turbidity, and oxygen

a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with a free connection to the sea and
in which seawater is dilutes by freshwater from the land
estuary

an organism that can tolerate a narrow range of salinities

stenohaline

an organisms that can tolerate a wide range of salinities

euryhaline

what is the base of the food web in the seagrass area of an estuary?
detritus
why do estuaries have low diversity?
they have high disturbance and they are also geologically young and so
organisms have not had time to adapt to that environment

how are estuarine organisms adapted to changing salinity?

have reduced permeability, active membrane pumps, can migrate up and
down in estuary to stay in same salinity over tidal cycle

what is the ecological importance of estuaries?

are important nursery ground for fish and other organisms, provide flooding
control, and filter pollution

where is the salt marsh zone of an estuary?

in the upper region

dominated by rooted, flowing grasses in temperate regions and mangroves

in tropical regions. the plants trap detritus and is one of the most productive
ecosystems on earth
salt marsh

where is the mudflat zone of an estuary?

are found un the subtitle and lower intertidal zones

how does the grain size of a sandy beach/mudflat affect the productivity in
an estuary?
smaller grain size=higher productivity

where is the seagrass zone found in an estuary?

in the intertidal and subtitle areas

a behavior where an organism moves up in the water column on a flood tide

and down in the water column on an ebb tide in order to try and maintain its
position in the estuary
tidal streaming

the particular space and food resource that an animal utilizes

ecological niche

specializes dinoflagellate that has adapted to live as a symbiont in corals and

some anemones and giant clams
zooxanthellae

how do corals compete with each other for space on the reef?
can out shade each other and can exude chemicals to attack neighboring
corals

why is there such a high diversity on coral reefs?

competitive exclusion is avoided because there are som many different
niches

what is the most northernly coral reef on earth?

the Flower Garden Banks in the Gulf of Mexico

a reef that is directly in the subtitle coastal zone

fringing reef

a reef that is separated from the mainland by a channel

barrier reef

what limits the growth of coral reefs?

low temperatures, low salinity, low light, and high turbidity that reduces light
and can smother polyps

how do corals feed?

polyps capture zoo plankton and coral benefit from the nutrition they get
from symbiotic association w/ zooxanthellae

how is wave energy both beneficial and detrimental to reefs?

waves bring nutrients and zooplankton but can physically damage corals if
the wave energy is too great

when corals expel their zooxanthellae due to some sort of stress

coral bleaching

where are coral reefs found?

in tropical, well-lit waters

a horse-shoe or ring-shaped island reef that grows up from the rim of a

sunken volcano
atoll

what are the different substrates make-up intertidal zones?

rock, sand, mud

animals in which part of the intertidal zone experience emersion for a longer
period of time?
upper

not vascular plants, no true roots or vascular system

kelp

t/f: well-sorted, coarse sediments allow a lot of water exchange

t

t/f: well-sorted, fine sediments allow poor water exchange

t

t/f: poorly sorted sediments allows almost no water exchange

t

what are the primary producers of sandy beaches? is this a high production
area?
benthic diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria. no

what are the primary producers of mud flats? are they more or less
productive than sandy beaches?
benthic diatoms, macroalgae, seagrasses, chemosynthetic bacteria. more
feed on organic material located on or in the sediments
deposit feeders

animals that filter particles out of the surrounding water

suspension feeders

animals that live in the water spaces between sand grains

interstitial fauna

grows at the waters edge, can tolerate fairly high salinity

red mangrove

can tolerate high salinity, found in the higher intertidal region where
seawater is left standing after high tide
black mangrove

seedlings cannot tolerate flooding by seawater, found inland

white mangrove

rising sea level after the last ice age inundated lowlands and river mouths
coastal plain or drowned river valley estuary

accumulation of sediments creates sandbars and barrier islands which

restricts mixing of oceanic and fresh waters
bar-built estuaries

land subsides and sinks below sea level

tectonic estuary

glaciers cut deep, coastal valleys which were submerged when sea level rose
fjords

upper estuary, low salinity but subject to tidal influences

tidal river zone
where fresh and marine waters mix, strong physical, chemical, and biological
gradients
mixing zone

from mouth of estuary out to seaward edge of tidal plume

nearshore turbid zone

what phytoplankton organisms make-up the pelagic estuarine fauna?

diatoms and dinoflagellates

what zooplankton organisms make-up the pelagic estuarine fauna?

copepods, decapods, amphipods, meroplankton, ichthyoplankton

what benthic organisms make-up the estuarine fauna?

macrophytes, mollusks, crustaceans, polychaetes

organisms that cannot regulate their internal ion concentration

osmoconformers

organisms that can maintain their internal ion concentration over a wide
range of salinities
osmoregulators

a symbiont that does not completely depend on its partner and can survive
outside of the symbiotic relationship
facultative symbiont

a symbiont that depends on its partner and cannot live outside the symbiotic
relationship
obligate symbiont

zone between the tides, area of shoreline between the high tide line and low
tide line
intertidal zone

all area below the low tide line

subtidal zone

how a community forms after a disturbance

ecological succession

how are estuaries classified?

by how they are formed

how long have estuaries been around?

15,000 years

live on surface of another creature

epiphytic

live on surface of sediment

benthic

live within the sediment

infauna

all reefs are located between what range of the equator

30 degrees north and 30 degrees south

what is the largest fishery in terms of fish caught?

anchovy

what is the main environmental issue with using large, mid-water trawls for
fishing?
they are not selective so there is a lot of by catch

at what population density do we see the maximal growth rates in a

population?
intermediate density

what are examples of non-extractive resources?

transportation and deposition
what are the abiotic marine resources?
petroleum, methane hydrates, sand and gravel, salt, and magnesium

what is an example of a non-renewable resource?

petroleum

what is an example of a renewable resource?

wind or tidal energy

what are some advantages of aquaculture?

avoids by catch and environmental destruction from trawling

what is a disadvantage of aquaculture?

the waste produced by the fish can pollute the environment

what are the two main types of extractive resources?

energy and biological

what is the major effect of rising ocean temperatures at the poles?

decreased ice cover

where do we see the greatest human impacts on the oceans?

coastal areas

the rising concentration of what greenhouse gas is highly correlated with

rising global temperatures?
carbon dioxide

how does rising ocean temperature affect corals?

high temperatures cause stress and leads to coral bleaching

what is the main way the decreasing pH in the ocean will affect organisms?
dissolution of calcium carbonate and other compounds that animals use to
build shells- death and extinction
where are most of the plastics in the ocean concentrated?
center of ocean gyres

what is one of the major effects of melting polar ice caps?

rising sea level

why are the oceans becoming acidic?

increased amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere leads to more carbon
dioxide dissolved in the ocean overloading the buffering capacity

what is the source of most of the oil in the ocean?

natural seeps

what is the main source of pollution in the ocean?

runoff from the land

Marine Animals
multicellular, active, incapable of synthesis of food: find food, avoid
predation, reproduce

Invertebrates
90% of all living and fossil animals

Porifera
intertidal to abyss, sponges

Cnidaria
nettle, cells on tentacles: two layers, protection and capture, digestion,
radial symmetry

Worm Phyla
Platyhelminthes (flat worms, flukes), Nematoda (round worms - digestive
tract), Annelida (segmented worms)

Mollusca
soft bodied, usually a shell, Gastropods (stomach foot, snail), Bivavles (two
doors - twin shells), Cephalopods (head foot - squid, octopus, intelligent,
good eyesight, sophisticated)

Arthropoda
joint food - lobsters, shrimp, crabs, krill, barnacles: exoskeleton - N rich
chitin, Striated muscle, articulation, low representation in sea.

Echinoderms
hedgehog skin, no eyes or brains: sea starts, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea
cucumbers

Chordata
most advanced inverts: notochord - provided the basis for embryonic
development, 5% lose them, Tunicates, salps. Embryos share similar
structure with vertebrates.

Vertebrates
Chordata that possess backbones, 95% have backbone, internal skeleton-
bone and/or cartilage (fishes, frogs, chickens, cats, dogs)

Three classes of fishes

Agnatha, Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes

Agnatha
lack jaws, no paired appendages, snake-like, Lamprey and hagfish are an
example.

Chondrichthyes
skeleton made of cartilage: sharks, skates, rays (sharks around twice as
long as dinos), have not changed much, jaws with teeth, paired fins

Osteichthyes
hard, lightweight skeleton, gas bladders: found in tidal pools to abyssal
depths.
Problems being a fish
water is 1000 denser than air, 100 times more viscous (internal resistance
to flow), very small organisms have a difficult time swimming, swimmers
still deal with drag (resistance to movement), drag depends on viscosity,
speed, shape, and size

Position in the Water Column

swim bladders - where does gas come from, control; fast, powerful fish have
no swim bladders (tuna, mackerel, swordfish) because their bodies would be
in a constant state of change and could lead to internal combustion.

Amphibians
frogs, salamanders, toads: require flow through water, no marine species.
Would dehydrate in marine environment

Marine Reptiles
sea turtle (most successful) return to birth place (2, 3, or 4 year intervals)
All species are endangered, shell is streamlined, one truly marine crocodile -
tropics, hunt in packs, fast aggressive.

Marine Birds
270 species of birds, about 3% are seabirds, true seabirds avoid land unless
breeding, get all their food from the sea, seek isolated areas during
reproduction. Pelicans, Gulls, Penguins

Early life in the seas

fish onto land - amphibian, reptiles ruled for some time, few small
mammals, mammals arose - birds appear. Returned to sea as marine
mammals

Marine Mammals = Mamma

Orders: Cetacea (whales, dolphins, porpoises), Carnivora: (seals, sea lions,
walruses), Sirenia: (manatees, dugongs)
4 general characteristics: streamlined body shape; generate internal body
heat, respiratory system is modified, osmotic adaptation

Cetacea
(ketos = whale) 79 species from hoofed land mammal resembling
sheep/horses, toothed vs. filter feeders: large brain, blue whale requires 1
million calories per day

Carnivora
gregarious pinnipeds wing foot, leave the ocean

Sirenia
only herbivorous marine mammals, lethargic, small brained, many are killed
each year by boats, Manatee.

Community
many populations of organisms that interact at a particular location

Population
A group of organisms of the same species occupying a specific area

Terms used to describe organisms and their environments

Habitat, Niche, Biodiversity

Habitat
an organism's physical location in its community

Niche
an organism's role in the community

Biodiversity
variety of species in a given area

Physical and Biological Environmental Factors Affect Communities

a proper balance of physical and biological factors is important for the
success of each organism and the community; different organisms have
different tolerances for specific factors.

Steno-
prefix meaning "narrow." It can be used to describe organisms that have
narrow tolerances for specific factors

Eury-
prefix meaning "wide." It can be used to describe organisms that have wide
tolerances for specific factors

Ecology
the study of the relationships of organisms and interactions within
communities

Examples of marine communities

rocky intertidal, seaweed, sand beach, salt marsh and estuary, coral reef,
open ocean, deep sea floor, hydrothermal vent and cold seep

Rocky intertidal Communities

densely populated despite environmental rigors; although the rocky shore
looks like a very difficult place for organisms to make a living, the rocky
intertidal zone - the band between the highest high-tide and lowest low-tide
marks on a rocky shore - is one of earth's most densely populated areas.
Dessication: drying; wave shock; rapid temperature changes

Coral reefs
most densely populated and diverse communities; pH of ocean is changing
because we have a lot more CO2 in the atmosphere, it takes an -OH and
leaves an H ion loose and is probably bleaching the coral and killing it

Deep Sea Provinces

Mesopelagic: 200-1000m, dim light, not enough for photosynthesis.
Bathypelagic, Abyssopelagic, Hadopelagic: >1000m, always dark. Deep sea
benthos, 20% of the surface production, low food, migrators, non-migrators,
vertical migration is a source of food for mesopelagic zone, 5% of the
surface production, very low food, no vertical migration, too far, too much
pressure, food is scarce, finding mate is harder.

Features of the Deep Sea

dark, cold, lot of pressure, not much food

Scientists believed in the deep sea that:

diversity of species in the deep sea was low, animals grew slowly, animals
lived a long time, little or no seasonality, early 1800s - William Forbes: Azoic
zone. Late 1800s - challenger expedition (Charles Thompson): Azoic zone
disproved

Ways to check out the deep sea

bathysphere, bathyscaphe, submersible, AUV, ROV

Examples of seasonal inputs into the deep sea

Marine snow, algal drift, deep sea adaptations

Mesopelagic fishes
bristlemouth, lantern fish, viperfish, hatchetfish, large teeth that curve
inwards to hold struggling prey, can unhinge jaw to swallow large prey which
may not be found too often, mesopelagic inverts

Deep sea fish

deep sea anglerfish, gulper eel

Deep sea giantism

giant isopod (squid)

Bioluminescence
cold light, common in the marine environment, a product of a chemical
reaction in an organism, produced by light organs photosphores, basic
reaction that occurs which allows the organisms to emit light is: oxidation of
luciferin catalyzed by the enzyme luciferase results in oxyluciferin and light.
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) provides the energy to produce the luciferin.
ATP + Luciferin + Luciferase + O2 = light.

Uses of Bioluminescence
counter illumination, prey capture/predator defense, communication:
defense, mating, prey catch

Deep sea red

red pigmented tissue in deep water appears black (makes organism
invisible), in gelatinous organisms, if gut is lined with red pigments, then
bioluminescent food organisms are not visible, Deep Sea (or even not-so-
deep sea) camouflage

Benthos
organisms (animals and plants) that live on, in, or attached to the sea floor;
includes 98% of all marine species; community composition determined by
benthic composition

Benthos Characteristics
sessile, relatively long-lived, diverse, well known, respond to food from
above

Benthos includes
all animals that live on the ocean bottom; epifauna live on the surface
attached to rocks or roving over the bottom; infauna live buried in the sand,
shells, or mud; nektobenthos live on the bottom but move with ease through
the water above the ocean floor

Deep Sea Benthos

Mostly sediment; lots of infauna; mainly deposit feeders; some
predators/scavengers

Animal diversity is high but abundance is low - why?

food is patchy - uneven distribution; limits possibility that species will
compete with one another; microhabitats (due to patchy food) foster high
diversity; food is limited, thus can't sustain large numbers of individuals

Source of food at depth

detritus that falls from above, zooplankton, fecal pellets, carcasses (this is
rare)

Skeleton coast is on the southern coast of _________.

Africa

_____ million seals live along this coast

2

sailors come for seals ____ and _____.

fur; blubber

______ is start of breeding season

November

Baby seals are born ______.

on shore

Jackals ______ and ______ to tire out the mother and get the pup
harass; divide

Only seal the jackals respect is the ______.

Beachmaster
The mother must learn the ___ and ____ to take care of her baby.
scent; cry

Must keep the babies _____ because it is _____

cool; hot

____ in _____ newborns don't survive their first month of life.

1; 5

mothers milk is _____% fat

40

born _____, several years before they turn _____.

black; gold

Remain with the mother for ___ months, but _____years before he can try
for position as beachmaster
10;10

males are ____ times bigger than females

5

adult males are interested in ____ and _____

sex; violence

at _____ months, seals fur is luxurious and poachers are after it.
10

_____________ affects what animals are available for the seals to eat
red tide

_____ saved from red tide are released in cleaner water to replenish the
population, but must get past hungry seals
lobsters
as many as ______ seals can invade a fishing net and eat tons of fish in the
time it takes to reel in the net
1,000

by age ___ male seals are ready to breed

6

seals are _______ favorite prey

shark's

hunters also want adult males to sell their ______

genitals

Physical resources
hydrocarbon, minerals, freshwater; in 2000, 35% of crude oil, 26% of
natural gas

Marine sediments
plankton, benthic organs; buried under km of sediment; 90 metric tons per
gallon: shell -> Ursa 3,800 depth usually in <330 ft. 71 ft., 140 mph

Methane Hydrates
largest reserve of hydrocarbon

sand and gravel

second in dollar value to? 1998: 1 billion metric tons; Japan and England
20%; Aragonite sands in the Bahamas - 97% CaCO3; Mining gravel off
African coast; 450,000 c. in 1998

Magnesium/compounds
Precipitates with Cl and SO4; strong and lightweight metal (food, medicine,
furnaces); world-wide 50%; US 60% from one facility in Texas; 1/3 of table
salt comes from the sea, move water around, conditions?

Metallic Sulfides and Muds

tectonic boundaries; iron, copper, lead, silver, Cd, and Zinc; phosphorite
deposits - upwelling; Need N + P

Fresh Water
0.017% is available at the surface; 0.6% in groundwater from the sea
called?; largest 30 million gallons per day; Middle East, West Africa, Peru,
Texas, California; Reverse Osmosis; harvest icebergs?

Marine energy
where is a good place for a wind farm? thermal gradient graph

______ of US fish in _______

60%; Bering Sea

Worth ______ before processing

$1.1B

___,____ commercial marine fish catch increased > 5 fold

1950; 1997

Drift nets
7 meters high, 80 km long, developed by UN agency; until 1993, Taiwan,
Korea and Japan vessels deployed 30,000 miles each night (walls of death);
800 small whales killed each day in fishing nets; Original fish sandwich sold
by Burger King was introduced in 1975 and was called the Whaler; fish came
from Iceland, a country which was still engaging in whaling; Bad publicity for
Burger King, changed sandwich name

Medical Advances
up to 10% of the organisms in the sea may contain compounds which can
have some therapeutic uses

Non-Extractive Resources
Transportation - oil and other products; Recreation - whale watching, sport
fishing, aquariums; real estate values

Aldicarb (Temik)
high toxicity to the nervous system

Benzene
Chromosomal damage, anemia, blood disorders, and leukemia

Carbon Tetrachloride
cancer, liver, kidney, lung, and central nervous system damage

Chloroform
liver and kidney damage; suspected cancer

Dioxin
skin disorders, cancer, and genetic mutations

Ethylene Dibromide (EDB)

cancer and male sterility

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

liver, kidney, and lung damage

Trichloroethylene (TCE)
in high concentrations, liver and kidney damage, central nervous system
depression, skin problems, and suspected cancer and mutations
Vinyl Chloride
liver, kidney, and lung damage, lung, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal
problems; cancer and suspected mutations.

Temperature
can affect juveniles: eggs, larvae, plankton

In 2004, US spent $310 billion dollars on control of:

Atmospheric, Terrestrial, Marina population: 1.6% GNP, 2.8% of capital
expenditures by businesses, the US lost 4% of GNP through environmental
damage

Carbon Dioxide breakdown (72% of greenhouse gas total)

industrial processes: 20.6%, Power Stations: 29.5%, Fossil fuel: retrieval,
processing and distribution: 8.4%, Land use and biomass burning: 9.1%,
Residential, commercial, and other sources: 12.9%, Transportation fuel:
19.2%

Easter Island
one of the most remote places on earth

In 1722, ______, Dutch explorer was first European to find the island on
Easter.
Jacob Roggeveen

Reported seeing _____ - ______ inhabitants

2000; 3000

What they found on Easter Island

withered grass, scorched earth, found 200 statues and another 700 partially
made (no wheels, trees or ropes. How could they make the statues?)

Who colonized the island?

records from caves and digs on the island. About 400 AD Polynesians

By 1400 population flourished

10,000-15,000 people, eventually stripped coastal waters of all Benthic
organisms, Land clearing for agriculture, killed seabirds and none returned
to nest, Statues - ancestors who look over/after the living

By 1550
no one offshore, no large trees, so no boats. Resources are dwindling vs.
population demands

By late 1774s
Capt. Cook arrived - 200 cave dwellers, 4 small leaky canoes, many statues
toppled, island was deforested, by this time, 21 species of trees and all
species of land birds were extinct.

Chapter 15: Marine Animals

invertebrates: know all phyla (group worm ones together);vertebrates:
evolution and classification; Fishes: problems for fishes - friction, swim
bladders, gills, osmosis, defense, etc.; Amphibians, marine reptiles; marine
birds; marine mammals

Chapter 16: Marine communities

intertidal communities; coral reef communities; deep sea communities
(difficulties in the deep sea, adaptation in the deep sea, numbers vs.
diversity)

Chapter 17: Marine Resources

Physical resources: petroleum, sand/gravel, salts, etc.; Marine energy:
waves, currents, thermal gradient; Biological resources: fisheries,
mismanagement, whaling, etc.; non-extractive resources; renewable vs.
nonrenewable

Chapter 18:
oil pollution; synthetic chemicals; eutrophication; temperature; plastics;
CO2 atmosphere; sea level rise; Easter Island - story of a disaster

Golden Seal Video

what organisms does the seal encounter; impacts of man on seals; location
of the voyage; how did seals interact with one another
Extra Practice 2/21/2015 9:29:00 PM

Invertebrates
Soft-bodied animals with no rigid internal structures

Phylum Porifera
-Sponges
-Simplest multicellular animals
-No true tissues or organs, but they are aggregations of specialized cells
-Sessile (don’t move), permanently attached to are substrates
-Receive nutrition by Suspension or filter feeding

Phylum Cndaria
-Next step up from sponges- evolution of specialized tissues
-specialized tissues--Permits coordinated activities; swimming, feeding,
responses to external stimuli
-Stinging cells called nematocysts
-Sea anemones, jellyfish, corals, siphonophores
Cnidarias may exist in one of two forms, ____ or _____
medusa, polyp

Classes of Cnidaria
-Hydrozoa
-Scyphozoa
-Anthozoa
-

Class Hydrozoa
includes Siphonophores
siphonophores
are the group of colonial hydrozoans. The Portuguese man of war is probably
the most familiar siphonophore. You would want to avoid it because it has
powerful toxins which aid it in catching prey

scyphozoa
-Large medusa; are the dominant life stage
-Polyps are small and produce juvenile medusae
-A few species may lack polyp stage entirely
-Large species may reach 3 meters in diameter

Class Anthozoa
-Solitary or colonial polyps that lack a medusa stage
-Anemones, gorgonians, corals
Phylum Ctenophora
-Animals closely related to Cnidarians that have eight rows of cilia for
propulsion
-One key difference between these animals and cnidarians is how they
capture prey-- Ctenophores have sticky cells to capture prey called
colloblasts instead of nematocysts.

Aceolomates
lack an internal body cavity

pseudocolomates
have a poorly developed internal body cavity
Phylum platynelminthes
includes tubellaria, treamatoda, and cestoda

class tubellaria
These are the simplest organisms to have organs and organ systems. They
have a central nervous system and a 'brain' area (anterior cephalization)
that allows them to have coordinated movements of their muscular system
(evolutionary advancements over the Cnidarians and Ctenophores)

Phylum nematoda
-Nematodes (roundworms)
-Small but highly abundant group including free-living and parasitic taxa
-Often live in soft sediments
Phylum nemertea
-Ribbon worms
-Complete gut with a mouth and an anus
-Circulatory system (these are the evolutionary advances)

Ceolomates
Higher animals possess a true coelom, an embryonic development that
separates the digestive tract from the body wall allowing for more efficient
and complex absorption of nutrients

Phylum Annelida
-The 7800 species of Class polychaete annelids feed in an impressive variety
of ways including:
-Ingesting organic rich sediments
-Preying on other animals
-and using a complex system of tentacles to function as filter or suspension
feeders
Phylum Mollusca
-Class Gastropoda
-Class Bivalvia-scalllops
-Class Cephalopoda
-Class Polyplacophora

Class Gastropods
-Snails, limpets, abalone, nudibranchs, pteropods
-Coiled organs enclosed by a spiral shell
-Herbivores, carnivores, detritivores (finding and eating organic matter along
the bottom or other areas
Class bivalves
-Laterally-compressed body enclosed in a shell with two halves
-Gills also function as food filtering apparatus
-Muscles close the shells and a large foot may be present for digging
-Water drawn in and out of mantle cavity via siphons
Class Cephalopods
-Octopuses, cuttlefish, squids, nautiluses
-Complex nervous system
-Reduction or loss of shell
-Highly mobile
-Large eyes
-Adapted siphon for locomotion

Phylum Arthropoda
-Largest animal phylum with over a million known species
-Insects dominate on land while crustaceans dominate in the oceans
-Bilaterally symmetrical,, segmented, jointed appendages
-Tough exoskeleton made of chiton
-Growth requires periodic molting
Inlcudes Crustacea

Class Crustacea
-Primarily aquatic organisms
-internal gills
-Specialized appendages
-swimming, crawling, anchoring, feeding
-Two pairs of sensory antennae, but not always have eyes. Can respond to
stimuli using antennae.
-Includes Decapods
Decapods
-Crabs and Lobsters
--Largest group of crustaceans and also the largest crustaceans
-Complex legs, 10 (pereopods) and Mouthrparts (maxillipeds)
-Cephalothorax
-Abdomen- tail
Phylum Echinoderms
-Radially symmetrical (like cnidarians)
-Secondary Symmetry: planktonic larvae are bilaterally symmetrical
-Asteroidea: sea stars
-Ophiuroidea: brittle stars
-Echinoidea: sea urchins
-Holothuroidea: sea cucumbers
-Crinoidea: feather stars

Chordates
-Most advanced animal phylum
-Have a notochord- stiffened structure that is the precursor to the backbone
-Have a tubular, dorsal nervous system
-Possess gill slits at some point in development (even humans)
Tunicates
-phylum Urochordata: sea squirts, salps
-most primitive chordates
-fairly transpanrent and gelatinous
but do posses the notochord and pharynx

Cephalochordates
-Lancelets (amphioxus)
-Laterally compressed, fishlike bodies
-Filter feeders inhabiting soft bottom areas
-Transitional organisms from invertebrates to vertebrates (evolutionary
significance)

Vertebrates (jawless fishes and Cartilaginous fishes)

3 classes
-class agnatha (jawless fishes)
-Class chondrichthyes (sharks)
-Class Osteichthyes (bony fishes)
Class Agnatha
(Jawless fishes)
- Hagfishes and Lampreys--They lack jaws, have eel-like bodies that lack
scales, and they are either predators or scavengers.
- Eel-like bodies that lack scales
- Predators or scavengers on other fishes
- Hagfishes (marine)
- Lampreys (marine or diadromous)
o Responsible for reductions of fishes in the great lakes during 1970’s and
80’s

Hagfishes
-Marine benthic scavengers that secrete viscous slime to deter predators
-Periodlically tie themselves in sliding knots to eliminate excess slime.

Class Chondrichthyes
-skeletons of cartilage
-the sharks, rays, and chimeras
-lack true scales, posses denticles
-wide range of feeding strategies
-largest members are planktivorous (whale shark)
-Reproduce via internal fertilization-----Possess internal embryos that
develop inside egg cases, they are deposited in the environment or born live
after completing development inside their mothers

Sharks

-Primarily predators
-Adapted to pelagic or demersal habitats
-Fertilization usually internal
-Few offspring
-Time period to reach maturity often extended
-use sensory perception to detect prey

Sharks' sensory perception

-Low frequency vibrations-Lateral line sensors on each side of their body
-Water borne odors-Olfactory pits on the underside of the snout, Water
continuously flows over pits-Detection interrupted is nostrils are plugged
-Vision-Becomes important as shark nears its prey
-Electro-magnetic fields-Ampullae of Loenzini- organ allows to sense fields
skates and rays
-Flattened bodies
-Most adapted to demersal habitat
-Predators on benthic organisms
-crustaceans mollusks and echinoderms
-Large manta rays are planktivorous
ratfishes
-deep water cartilaginous fish
-benthic predator

Bony fishes- ostiechthyes

-many thousands of species of bony fishes are marine, and all but one are
ray-finned (lobe finned is the cylacamp- known only from fossil records but
then caught again in 1920s)
-skeletons of bone
-thin, flexible scales
-may have a swim-bladder (gas or oil filled)- controls buoyancy

body shape is dictated by...

The lifestyle of that species: habitat, how it feeds, etc.
coloration is found in...
chromataphores

iridescent coloration found in...

iridophores

warning coloration
venomous lion fish, if you possess poison its to your advantage to have
bright coloration to warm
cryptic coloration
used for camouflage

disruptive coloration
used to confuse predators, like an eye spot.
Countershading
light colored on it's underside and dark colored on the dorsal (top) side. This
is benefial for camouflage in open water because the fish blends into the
light coming from the surface when observed from underneath and blends
into the dark water below when observed from above.
benefits of schooling
-Reduced probability of detection
-Confusing to predator
-Larger and more formidable appearance
-Rapid predator satiation
-Reduction in drag

marine reptiles
-“Cold-blooded”
-restricted to Tropical and subtropical because they are cold blooded
-MUST lay their eggs on land
sea turtles
sea snakes
marine iguanas
saltwater crocodiles

Sea turtles
-Legs modified into paddle-like flippers for swimming
-9 species confined largely to tropical/subtropical waters
-Many feed on jellyfish when their young- growing problem is they are
swallowing plastic bags thinking they are jellyfish.
-Must come onto land to ay eggs. They build a nest and lay many eggs.
-are very slow to mature and It takes decades for a baby turtle to reach its
maximum adult size
Sea Snakes
-tails modified to be like fins and their body shape has changed to allow
them to be great swimmers.
-many are brightly colored in subtropical waters living around coral reefs
-Air breathing inhabitants of Indo-Pacific tropical waters-Coastal estuaries,
coral reefs, open sea
-Often schooling aggregations
-Feed on small fish or squid which are killed with powerful venom
-Few predators: sharks, saltwater crocodiles, raptors
Marine Iguanas
-Marine lizard endemic to Galapagos islands
-Herbivorous: graze on seaweeds
-Salt glands on nose to eliminate excess salts
-Recently observed feeding on land for first time
-feed by They dive to the bottom and graze on seaweeds

Saltwater Crocodile
-Largest living crocodilians and reptiles: 6-7m long
-Eggs laid and incubated on land
-Tropical and subtropical
Mammals
-Carnivora
-Sirenia
-Cetacea

Class Carnivora
Seals, Sea lions, and walruses
-Highly adapted to swimming in the ocean but require access to land for rest
and breeding
-Predators feeding on squid and fish
-Most live in cold water and possess a protective layer of blubber for
insulation, food reserve and buoyancy
-Most are large which helps them to conserve body heat

Seals
-Rear flippers cannot be pulled forward
-Move on land by pulling themselves along with their front flippers
-External ears absent
-Seals represent the most abundant group of pinnipeds (order pinnepedia)
Sea Lions
-Also called eared seals and includes related fur seals
-Possess external ears
-Able to move rear flippers toward so that they can walk on all four limbs
-Adult males much larger than females
-Fur seals hunted near extinction now all are protected
-Can be a problem for salmon farmers or around salmon ladders because
they prey on fish
-Fish farmers are granted depredation permits to destroy nuisance animals

Walruses
-Arctic pinnipeds possessing a pair of distinctive tusks
-Tusks function for defense or to hold onto ice
-Feed on benthic invertebrates such as clams
-Recent data suggests that the loss of arctic ice cover is affecting walruses
by denying them access to feeding areas offshore
-Abandoned pups have been observed swimming in open water,

Sea otters
-Smallest marine mammal 60-80 lbs
-Weasel family found along the Pacific coast form CA to Siberia
-Lacks a blubber layer so air trapped beneath dense fur provides insulation
and buoyancy.
-Forage on benthic invertebrates and use tools
-Need to consume 25-30% of body mass in food per day
-hunted nearly to extinction for their fur. Recently, some killer whales
switched to eating sea otters in Alaska & caused a huge decline in some
populations
Class Cetacea
Whales, dolphins, and porpoises
-Largest group of marine mammals
-Spend entire lives in water
-Convergent evolution has produced hydrodynamic bodies that superficially
resemble fishes--The hydrodynamic, tear-shaped bodies that enable them to
swim fast
-Pair of front flippers but only vestigial hind limbs
-Tail has a pair of fin-like flukes, Dorsal fin, Nostrils form a dorsal blowhole

Cetacean sub orders

-Suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales)
-Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales)
suborder Mysticeti
constitute some of the largest animals on the planet
--feed on plankton
-baleen plates
-two blowholes
-They spend time feeding in high latitudes where there is greater
productivity and they migrate to warm lower latitudes to breed
Suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales)
-Fish, squid and other organisms are prey
-teeth
-single blowhole

toothed whales mainly hunt by

echolocation

adaptations to deep diving

-Increased oxygen capacity of blood
-humans 16-24mlO2/100ml blood
-Elephant Seals 40ml O2/100 ml blood
-Slowing of heart rate (bradycardia)
-bottlenosed dolphins at surface 90 bpm
-bottlenosed dolphins during dive 20 bpm
-Restriction of blood flow to non-critical areas
-Tolerance of anaerobic conditions
maintenance of body temperature
-Large objects cool more slowly than small objects
Volume increases at a much greater rate then surface area- so a larger
animal has a much greater volume per surface area

class sirenia
(manatee and dugong)
Manatees live in warm water both marine and fresh water, move in the
winter
-Only herbivorous marine animals
-Historically were hunted extensively and now endangered
-greatest threat today is injury and death by boat propellers
Estuaries
estuary
A semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection to the
sea and within which sea water is measurably diluted with fresh water
derived from land drainage.

types of estuaries
Drowned river valley, bar built, tectonic, fjord
important abiotic factors in estuaries
salinity, temperature, turbidity, oxygen

salinity in an estuary
-Salinity in water changes a lot during the tidal cycle
-Salinity in the mud(sediment) is fairly constant

temperature in an estuary
-More variable than in coastal waters because it is a smaller body of water
so it heats up and cools more quickly.
-Many short-term fluctuations in response to tides and runoff
-Smaller volume of water heats up and cools off more rapidly
-temperature extremes are more pronounced in the upper estuary
turbidity in an estuary
Turbidity is highest in the upper estuary because sediments are delivered by
rivers. Turbidity affects light penetration and so can affect visual predators
and primary producers that need light for photosynthesis

oxygen in an estuary
-May be limiting below the thermocline in highly stratified estuaries (very
sharp gradient in temperature and very little mixing of water from below the
thermocline to above that)
-Usually low in sediments
-Lots of decomposition going on, uses up O2
-Fine grain sediments (mud) can restrict water exchange

adaptations to salinity changes in an estuary

-Reduced permeability to surrounding water
-Crab exoskeleton
-Fish have tough scales and a mucous coating
-Active membrane pumps
-Pump water or pump ions to maintain osmotic balance
-Migrate
-Move up and down estuary to remain in the environment you are
adapted to
osmoconformers
organisms that cannot regulate their internal ion concentration, their blood
salinity will change with the external salinity
-polychaete worm

osmoregulators
organisms that can maintain their internal ion concentration over a wide
range of salinities. May be using active membrane pumps.
-shanuk salmon and freshwater eel

Stenohaline
organisms that can tolerate only a narrow range of salinities
Euryhaline
organisms that can tolerate a wide range of salinities

estuaries are a _____ diversity, ____biomass environment

low, high

Saltmarsh
-Upper reaches of the estuary
-Dominated by rooted, flowering grasses in temperate regions and
mangroves in tropical regions
One of the most productive ecosystems on earth
saltmarsh

seagrass
-Intertidal and subtidal region of the estuary
--Mostly detrital based food web- little of the primary production is
consumed by herbivores

mudflat
-Subtidal and lower parts of the intertidal zones
Productivity is inversely correlated with grain size (smaller grain size, higher
productivity)
ecological importance of estuaries
-Important spawning and nursery grounds for some species
-Take advantage of warmer, food rich environment of estuary
-Flooding control- porous soils absorb floodwater
-Pollution filter: Sediment and nutrient loads are filtered out in the salt
marsh

tidal streaming
a behavior where an organism moves up in the water column on a flood tide
and down in the water column on an ebb tide in order to try to maintain
position in the estuary

Coral reefs
-Found in tropical, well lit waters
--Created by hard portion of living and once living organisms
-Dominant reef-building organisms called framework builders
-Produce the matrix for the growing reef
-Corals and coralline algae produce calcium carbonate skeletons
factors limiting reef growth
(Low temperatures, low salinity, low light, and high turbidity which reduces
light and can smother the polyps)

wave energy effect on reefs

-Moving water brings nutrients and zooplankton to the reef
-Wave energy also detrimental to corals particularly branching forms
-Tropical storms can exert massive damage on reefs

atoll
-Corals grew upward from the top of a sinking volcano
fringing reefs
-A thin layer of corals on a subtidal coast

Barrier reefs
-Separated from mainland by a deep channel
-Great Barrier reef off Australia or barrier reefs off belize

Zooxanthellae
A specialized dinoflagellate that has adapted to live as a symbiont in corals
and some anemones and giant clams
How corals feed
The polyps capture zooplankton and the corals benefit from the nutrition
they get from the symbiotic zooxanthellae

corals deal with with limited space by...

-Corals can out-shade neighbors
-Corals are not defenseless—the can exude digestive filaments to attack and
kill neighboring colonies

Diversity on reefs
high diversity
-Competitive exclusion may be avoided because each species has a
particular ecological niche
-Each species utilizes slightly different resources of food and space on the
reef and so are not competing directly
coral bleaching
When corals expel their zooxanthellae due to some stressor

nonextractive resources
any use of the ocean there is--such as transportation of people and
commodities by sea, recreation, and waste disposal

petroleum
most important nonrenewable extractive marine resource
Other Abiotic (nonrenewable) resources
-Methane hydrates (energy)
-Sand and gravel (construction)
-Salt (construction and consumption)
-Magnesium (metal construction)

2 main types of extractive resources:

energy and biological resources (food or medicine)

maximal growth rate occurs at an ______ density

intermediate

Prevailing offshore winds produce coastal waters that __________.

have higher salinities
An estuary in which salinities tend to be higher away from the ocean
entrance than near the ocean entrance is called ____________.
a reverse estuary
A partially enclosed body of water where there is a free mixing of fresh and
salt-water is called a/an ____________.
estuary
The dynamics of an estuary are most strongly influenced by ____________.
(a) tidal action
(b) storm events
(c) rainfall
(d) river input
(e) both A and D
If an estuary is a river-dominated system, its water column is
____________.
highly stratified
If an estuary is a tide-dominated system, its water column is
____________.
unstratified
Estuaries are very fertile because ____________.
(a) rivers supply large quantities of dissolved nutrients
(b) nutrients supply large quantities of dissolved nutrients
(c) the water is well ventilated with oxygen by tides and waves
(d) all of the above
Estuaries typically exhibit ____________.
low species diversity and high productivity
Species diversity in estuaries is low due to ____________.
widely fluctuating environmental conditions
For most organisms, an estuary is ____________.
a stressful habitat
If longshore currents form a spit across an embayment, it may produce a
____________ estuary.
bar-built
An example of a coastal plain estuary is the __________.
Chesapeake Bay
An example of a bar-built estuary is __________.
Laguna Madre
Lagoons that form behind barrier islands are examples of __________.
bar-built estuaries
Estuaries that are formed when folding and faulting create basins that fill
with water are ____________ estuaries.
tectonic
The Coriolis effect is evident in the surface circulation of Chesapeake Bay.
True
The type of circulation pattern found in Laguna Madre is __________.
opposite of the typical estuarine circulation pattern
An estuary formed from a flooded glacial valley called a __________.
fjord
An estuary produced by faulting or folding of rocks that creates a dropped-
down section into which a river flows is called a __________.
tectonic estuary
Estuarine circulation associated with a deep, high river volume system where
no horizontal salinity gradient exists at the surface is called a __________.
salt wedge estuary
Estuarine circulation associated with a shallow, low-volume estuary in which
river water mixes evenly at all depths with ocean water would be called a
__________.
vertically mixed estuary
The Columbia River estuary received most of its ecological damage from
which of the following sources?
hydroelectric dams
One major problem associated with Chesapeake Bay and increased human
pressure is __________.
an increase in nutrients resulting in more frequent kills of bottom-dwelling
animals
A type of coastal wetland that occurs at latitudes devoid of killing frosts is a
__________.
mangrove swamp
Salt marshes serve as nurseries for over half of the commercially important
fish in the southeastern United States.
True
A type of coastal wetland that occurs at temperate latitudes that experience
seasonal frosts is a __________.
salt marsh
This wetland coastal area occurs __________.
between 30ºN and 30ºS latitude
Coastal wetlands are characterized by __________.
high levels of organic nutrients in the tidal zone and anoxic sediments
The percentage of the original area of wetlands currently left in the United
States is approximately ___50%___.
When ocean water enters a marginal sea above a return flow of saltier
water, the circulation pattern is called __________.
lagoon circulation
The biological response level that is impacted for the longest time period by
pollutants in the marine environment is the __________.
organismal level
All of the following are examples of pollutants in the marine environment
except:
phytoplankton
Pollutants are any substance that has a negative effect on the environment.
True
Point sources of municipal and industrial wastes in the United States are
governed by:
Federal Clean Water Act
The toxicity of marine pollutants is estimated by __________.
calculating the concentration at which 50% of the test organisms die
The two most significant sources of oil pollution in the marine environment
are __________.
normal oil tanker/shipping operations and urban run-off
The most biologically devastating oil spills in the marine environment are a
result of __________.
collision and/or sinking of oil tankers
The largest petroleum spill in the marine waters to date is attributed to the
__________.
Persian Gulf War of 1991
Natural processes which help to remove oil spills from the ocean include all
of the following except __________.
digestion of significant amount by fish populations
Bioremediation has been particularly effective in marine ecosystems in the
clean-up of __________.
hydrocarbons
Plastics cause significant biological damage in oceans when __________.
netting strangles seals and birds
Secondary sewage treatment is distinguished form primary sewage
treatment by the __________.
chlorination of the liquid effluent
The deep water dumping site for sewage sludge off the US East Coast
initially seemed to be a good choice because __________.
a well-developed pycnocline should isolate the sewage
Which of the following organisms are expected to show the highest
concentrations of DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons in its tissues?
zooplankton
Dead zones resulting from hypoxia and anoxia __________.
are prevalent in coastal waters west of the Mississippi River delta during the
summer months
Minamata disease is associated with __________.
ingestion of methyl mercury-contaminated fish and shellfish
The greatest sources of hydrocarbons in the marine environment are urban
run-off and shipping.
True
Bioremediation involves the use of microorganisms to degrade pollutants
such as crude oil.
True
The largest single oil pollution event was the result of the Persian Gulf War
in 1991.
True
The decreased calcium content in the shells of piscivorous birds was a result
bioaccumulation of pesticides in the food chain.
True
Which of the following is a nutrient pollutant?
Mercury
Which of the following is a hydrocarbon?
Crude oil
Which of the following is a toxic contaminant?
Mercury

What environmental change on Earth allowed for the evolution and rise of
animals?
Increasing accumulations of Oxygen

Given the growth rates and reproductive strategies of chondrichthyes, why

does it take long for populations to recover from overfishing?
Have fewer offspring, Slow to mature

Marine reptiles are dependent on land for what?

Laying Eggs

How is the attack strategy of Great White Sharks different for Seals than Sea
Lions?
For Seals, they only strike once to kill, For Sea Lions, the strike once to
disable, then another time to kill

Why does the growth pattern of arthropods resemble a stair step pattern?
Arthropods must shed their exoskeleton through the process of molting each
time they need to expand their body size, and so they instantly expand their
new size after a molting event and then retain that size until the next
molting event

Which Cnidarian body form undergoes asexual reproduction?

Polyp

What are some advantages of schooling behavior?

Reduced detection, Predatory confusion, Large appearance, Rapid predator
satiation, Reduction in drag

Cephalochordates (like Amphioxus) are transitional organisms between ___

& ___.
Invertebrates, Vertebrates

Functions of the blubber layer that pinnipeds possess... (seals, sea lions,
walruses)
Warmth (Insulation), Food Reserve, Buoyancy

In which Phylum are the simplest multicellular animals?

Porifera

Describe one way estuaries are ecologically important...

As a nursery ground, for flooding control, as a pollution filter

The uppermost ecological zone of an estuary...

Salt Marsh

What pool of material is central to estuarine food webs?

Detritus

Reasons that there is low diversity of truly

adapted estuarine species...
High level of exological disturbance, Relatively young
Mangroves dominate the upper zone of estuaries in what parts of the globe?
Tropical Regions

How did Drowned River Estuaries form?

Rising sea level after the last ice age inundated lowlands and river mouths

Zooxanthellae... Symbiotic Phytoplankton

Corals are in which phylum? Cnidaria

Limiting factors for reef growth

Light, Temperature

What is a barrier reef?

Reef separated from the mainland by a deep channel

Coral Bleaching
When corals expel their zooxanthellae due to stress

Besides fisheries, what is another biological marine resource?

Medicine

What is one extractive, non-renewable marine resource?

Sand and gravel mining, Salt mining, Manganese mining

Non-extractive marine resources

Transportation, Deposition, Recreation

What area used to be one of the most productive, but had its fisheries
collapse?
North Atlantic

What is bycatch?
Organisms captured in fishing gear that are not the target fish

Major concern associated with Aquaculture?

Pollution

Why do geologists look for salt domes?

This is where petroleum is found mostly.

How are rising global temps affecting coral reefs?

Causing coral bleaching

Solid wastes in the ocean... Plastics

Biomagnification
When a pollutant becomes more concentrated as it is passed up to higher
trophic levels

class agnatha hagfishes/lampreys

eel-like bodies, lack scales
2. class chondrichthyes elasmobranchs
sharks, fishes, chimeras
3. class osteichthyes bony fish
skeletons of bone, thin & flexible scales
4. marine mammals carnivora (sea otters, seals, sea lions,
walruses, polar bears)
sirenia (manatees & dugongs)
cetacia (whales, dolphins, porpoises)
5. marine reptiles sea snakes, crocodiles, sea turtles, marine
iguana
6. phylum annelida annelid worms
ingest organic-rich sediments, prey on other animals, or use complex system
of tentacles to function as filter
7. phylum arthropoda largest animal phylum
insects dominate land
crustaceans dominate ocean
8. phylum chordata most advanced phylum
NOTOCORD - stiffened structure, precursor to backbone
9. phylum cnidaria siphonophores, jellyfish, corals, sea anemones
class hydrozoa
class scyphozoa
class anthozoa
10. phylum ctenophora entirely marine planktonic
radial symmetry
11. phylum mollusca class gastropoda (snails, limpets, abolone)
class bivalvia (laterally compressed, enclsed in shell w/ 2 halves)
class cephalopoda (octopuses, squid, cuttlefish)
12. phylum nematoda roundworms
13. phylum nemertea ribbon-worms (complete gut with mouth &
anus)
14. phylum platyhelminthes turbellaria (free living)
trematoda (flukes)
cestoda (tapeworms)
15. phylum porifera simplest!
sponges

Invertebrates
Soft-bodied animals with no rigid internal structures
Phylum Porifera
-Sponges
-Simplest multicellular animals
-No true tissues or organs, but they are aggregations of specialized cells
-Sessile (don’t move), permanently attached to are substrates
-Receive nutrition by Suspension or filter feeding
Phylum Cndaria
-Next step up from sponges- evolution of specialized tissues
-specialized tissues--Permits coordinated activities; swimming, feeding,
responses to external stimuli
-Stinging cells called nematocysts
-Sea anemones, jellyfish, corals, siphonophores
Cnidarias may exist in one of two forms, ____ or _____
medusa, polyp
Classes of Cnidaria
-Hydrozoa
-Scyphozoa
-Anthozoa
-
Class Hydrozoa
includes Siphonophores
siphonophores
are the group of colonial hydrozoans. The Portuguese man of war is probably
the most familiar siphonophore. You would want to avoid it because it has
powerful toxins which aid it in catching prey
scyphozoa
-Large medusa; are the dominant life stage
-Polyps are small and produce juvenile medusae
-A few species may lack polyp stage entirely
-Large species may reach 3 meters in diameter

Class Anthozoa
-Solitary or colonial polyps that lack a medusa stage
-Anemones, gorgonians, corals

Phylum Ctenophora
-Animals closely related to Cnidarians that have eight rows of cilia for
propulsion
-One key difference between these animals and cnidarians is how they
capture prey-- Ctenophores have sticky cells to capture prey called
colloblasts instead of nematocysts.

Aceolomates
lack an internal body cavity
pseudocolomates
have a poorly developed internal body cavity
Phylum platynelminthes
includes tubellaria, treamatoda, and cestoda
class tubellaria
These are the simplest organisms to have organs and organ systems. They
have a central nervous system and a 'brain' area (anterior cephalization)
that allows them to have coordinated movements of their muscular system
(evolutionary advancementsover the Cnidarians and Ctenophores)
Phylum nematoda
-Nematodes (roundworms)
-Small but highly abundant group including free-living and parasitic taxa
-Often live in soft sediments
Phylum nemertea
-Ribbon worms
-Complete gut with a mouth and an anus
-Circulatory system (these are the evolutionary advances)
Ceolomates
Higher animals possess a true coelom, an embryonic development that
separates the digestive tract from the body wall allowing for more efficient
and complex absorption of nutrients
Phylum Annelida
-The 7800 species of Class polychaete annelids feed in an impressive variety
of ways including:
-Ingesting organic rich sediments
-Preying on other animals
-and using a complex system of tentacles to function as filter or suspension
feeders
Phylum Mollusca
-Class Gastropoda
-Class Bivalvia-scalllops
-Class Cephalopoda
-Class Polyplacophora
Class Gastropods
-Snails, limpets, abalone, nudibranchs, pteropods
-Coiled organs enclosed by a spiral shell
-Herbivores, carnivores, detritivores (finding and eating organic matter along
the bottom or other areas
Class bivalves
-Laterally-compressed body enclosed in a shell with two halves
-Gills also function as food filtering apparatus
-Muscles close the shells and a large foot may be present for digging
-Water drawn in and out of mantle cavity via siphons
Class Cephalopods
-Octopuses, cuttlefish, squids, nautiluses
-Complex nervous system
-Reduction or loss of shell
-Highly mobile
-Large eyes
-Adapted siphon for locomotion
Phylum Arthropoda
-Largest animal phylum with over a million known species
-Insects dominate on land while crustaceans dominate in the oceans
-Bilaterally symmetrical,, segmented, jointed appendages
-Tough exoskeleton made of chiton
-Growth requires periodic molting
Inlcudes Crustacea
Class Crustacea
-Primarily aquatic organisms
-internal gills
-Specialized appendages
-swimming, crawling, anchoring, feeding
-Two pairs of sensory antennae, but not always have eyes. Can respond to
stimuli using antennae.
-Includes Decapods
Decapods
-Crabs and Lobsters
--Largest group of crustaceans and also the largest crustaceans
-Complex legs, 10 (pereopods) and Mouthrparts (maxillipeds)
-Cephalothorax
-Abdomen- tail

Phylum Echinoderms
-Radially symmetrical (like cnidarians)
-Secondary Symmetry: planktonic larvae are bilaterally symmetrical
-Asteroidea: sea stars
-Ophiuroidea: brittle stars
-Echinoidea: sea urchins
-Holothuroidea: sea cucumbers
-Crinoidea: feather stars
Chordates
-Most advanced animal phylum
-Have a notochord- stiffened structure that is the precursor to the backbone
-Have a tubular, dorsal nervous system
-Possess gill slits at some point in development (even humans)

Tunicates
-phylum Urochordata: sea squirts, salps
-most primitive chordates
-fairly transpanrent and gelatinous
but do posses the notochord and pharynx
Cephalochordates
-Lancelets (amphioxus)
-Laterally compressed, fishlike bodies
-Filter feeders inhabiting soft bottom areas
-Transitional organisms from invertebrates to vertebrates (evolutionary
significance)

Vertebrates (jawless fishes and Cartilaginous fishes)

3 classes
-class agnatha (jawless fishes)
-Class chondrichthyes (sharks)
-Class Osteichthyes (bony fishes)
Class Agnatha
(Jawless fishes)
- Hagfishes and Lampreys--They lack jaws, have eel-like bodies that lack
scales, and they are either predators or scavengers.
- Eel-like bodies that lack scales
- Predators or scavengers on other fishes
- Hagfishes (marine)
- Lampreys (marine or diadromous)
o Responsible for reductions of fishes in the great lakes during 1970’s and
80’s
Hagfishes
-Marine benthic scavengers that secrete viscous slime to deter predators
-Periodlically tie themselves in sliding knots to eliminate excess slime.
Class Chondrichthyes
-skeletons of cartilage
-the sharks, rays, and chimeras
-lack true scales, posses denticles
-wide range of feeding strategies
-largest members are planktivorous (whale shark)
-Reproduce via internal fertilization-----Possess internal embryos that
develop inside egg cases, they are deposited in the environment or born live
after completing development inside their mothers

Sharks

-Primarily predators
-Adapted to pelagic or demersal habitats
-Fertilization usually internal
-Few offspring
-Time period to reach maturity often extended
-use sensory perception to detect prey
Sharks' sensory perception
-Low frequency vibrations-Lateral line sensors on each side of their body
-Water borne odors-Olfactory pits on the underside of the snout, Water
continuously flows over pits-Detection interrupted is nostrils are plugged
-Vision-Becomes important as shark nears its prey
-Electro-magnetic fields-Ampullae of Loenzini- organ allows to sense fields
skates and rays
-Flattened bodies
-Most adapted to demersal habitat
-Predators on benthic organisms
-crustaceans mollusks and echinoderms
-Large manta rays are planktivorous
ratfishes
-deep water cartilaginous fish
-benthic predator
Bony fishes- ostiechthyes
-many thousands of species of bony fishes are marine, and all but one are
ray-finned (lobe finned is the cylacamp- known only from fossil records but
then caught again in 1920s)
-skeletons of bone
-thin, flexible scales
-may have a swim-bladder (gas or oil filled)- controls buoyancy

body shape is dictated by...

The lifestyle of that species: habitat, how it feeds, etc.

coloration is found in...

chromataphores
iridescent coloration found in...
iridophores
warning coloration
venomous lion fish, if you possess poison its to your advantage to have
bright coloration to warm
cryptic coloration
used for camouflage
disruptive coloration
used to confuse predators, like an eye spot.
Countershading
light colored on it's underside and dark colored on the dorsal (top) side. This
is benefial for camouflage in open water because the fish blends into the
light coming from the surface when observed from underneath and blends
into the dark water below when observed from above.
benefits of schooling
-Reduced probability of detection
-Confusing to predator
-Larger and more formidable appearance
-Rapid predator satiation
-Reduction in drag

marine reptiles
-“Cold-blooded”
-restricted to Tropical and subtropical because they are cold blooded
-MUST lay their eggs on land
sea turtles
sea snakes
marine iguanas
saltwater crocodiles
Sea turtles
-Legs modified into paddle-like flippers for swimming
-9 species confined largely to tropical/subtropical waters
-Many feed on jellyfish when their young- growing problem is they are
swallowing plastic bags thinking they are jellyfish.
-Must come onto land to ay eggs. They build a nest and lay many eggs.
-are very slow to mature and It takes decades for a baby turtle to reach its
maximum adult size
Sea Snakes
-tails modified to be like fins and their body shape has changed to allow
them to be great swimmers.
-many are brightly colored in subtropical waters living around coral reefs
-Air breathing inhabitants of Indo-Pacific tropical waters-Coastal estuaries,
coral reefs, open sea
-Often schooling aggregations
-Feed on small fish or squid which are killed with powerful venom
-Few predators: sharks, saltwater crocodiles, raptors

Marine Iguanas
-Marine lizard endemic to Galapagos islands
-Herbivorous: graze on seaweeds
-Salt glands on nose to eliminate excess salts
-Recently observed feeding on land for first time
-feed by They dive to the bottom and graze on seaweeds

Saltwater Crocodile
-Largest living crocodilians and reptiles: 6-7m long
-Eggs laid and incubated on land
-Tropical and subtropical
Mammals
-Carnivora
-Sirenia
-Cetacea
Class Carnivora
Seals, Sea lions, and walruses
-Highly adapted to swimming in the ocean but require access to land for rest
and breeding
-Predators feeding on squid and fish
-Most live in cold water and possess a protective layer of blubber for
insulation, food reserve and buoyancy
-Most are large which helps them to conserve body heat

Seals
-Rear flippers cannot be pulled forward
-Move on land by pulling themselves along with their front flippers
-External ears absent
-Seals represent the most abundant group of pinnipeds (order pinnepedia)
Sea Lions
-Also called eared seals and includes related fur seals
-Possess external ears
-Able to move rear flippers toward so that they can walk on all four limbs
-Adult males much larger than females
-Fur seals hunted near extinction now all are protected
-Can be a problem for salmon farmers or around salmon ladders because
they prey on fish
-Fish farmers are granted depredation permits to destroy nuisance animals
Walruses
-Arctic pinnipeds possessing a pair of distinctive tusks
-Tusks function for defense or to hold onto ice
-Feed on benthic invertebrates such as clams
-Recent data suggests that the loss of arctic ice cover is affecting walruses
by denying them access to feeding areas offshore
-Abandoned pups have been observed swimming in open water,
Sea otters
-Smallest marine mammal 60-80 lbs
-Weasel family found along the Pacific coast form CA to Siberia
-Lacks a blubber layer so air trapped beneath dense fur provides insulation
and buoyancy.
-Forage on benthic invertebrates and use tools
-Need to consume 25-30% of body mass in food per day
-hunted nearly to extinction for their fur. Recently, some killer whales
switched to eating sea otters in Alaska & caused a huge decline in some
populations

Class Cetacea
Whales, dolphins, and porpoises
-Largest group of marine mammals
-Spend entire lives in water
-Convergent evolution has produced hydrodynamic bodies that superficially
resemble fishes--The hydrodynamic, tear-shaped bodies that enable them to
swim fast
-Pair of front flippers but only vestigial hind limbs
-Tail has a pair of fin-like flukes, Dorsal fin, Nostrils form a dorsal blowhole
Cetacean sub orders
-Suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales)
-Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales)
suborder Mysticeti
constitute some of the largest animals on the planet
--feed on plankton
-baleen plates
-two blowholes
 -They spend time feeding in high latitudes where there is greater
productivity and they migrate to warm lower latitudes to breed
Suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales)
-Fish, squid and other organisms are prey
-teeth
-single blowhole
toothed whales mainly hunt by
echolocation
adaptations to deep diving
-Increased oxygen capacity of blood
-humans 16-24mlO2/100ml blood
-Elephant Seals 40ml O2/100 ml blood
-Slowing of heart rate (bradycardia)
-bottlenosed dolphins at surface 90 bpm
-bottlenosed dolphins during dive 20 bpm
-Restriction of blood flow to non-critical areas
-Tolerance of anaerobic conditions
maintenance of body temperature
-Large objects cool more slowly than small objects
Volume increases at a much greater rate then surface area- so a larger
animal has a much greater volume per surface area

class sirenia
(manatee and dugong)
Manatees live in warm water both marine and fresh water, move in the
winter
-Only herbivorous marine animals
-Historically were hunted extensively and now endangered
-greatest threat today is injury and death by boat propellers

estuary
A semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection to the
sea and within which sea water is measurably diluted with fresh water
derived from land drainage.
types of estuaries
Drowned river valley, bar built, tectonic, fjord
important abiotic factors in estuaries
salinity, temperature, turbidity, oxygen
salinity in an estuary
-Salinity in water changes a lot during the tidal cycle
-Salinity in the mud(sediment) is fairly constant
temperature in an estuary
-More variable than in coastal waters because it is a smaller body of water
so it heats up and cools more quickly.
-Many short-term fluctuations in response to tides and runoff
-Smaller volume of water heats up and cools off more rapidly
-temperature extremes are more pronounced in the upper estuary
turbidity in an estuary
Turbidity is highest in the upper estuary because sediments are delivered by
rivers. Turbidity affects light penetration and so can affect visual predators
and primary producers that need light for photosynthesis
oxygen in an estuary
-May be limiting below the thermocline in highly stratified estuaries (very
sharp gradient in temperature and very little mixing of water from below the
thermocline to above that)
-Usually low in sediments
-Lots of decomposition going on, uses up O2
-Fine grain sediments (mud) can restrict water exchange
adaptations to salinity changes in an estuary
-Reduced permeability to surrounding water
-Crab exoskeleton
-Fish have tough scales and a mucous coating
-Active membrane pumps
-Pump water or pump ions to maintain osmotic balance
-Migrate
-Move up and down estuary to remain in the environment you are
adapted to
osmoconformers
organisms that cannot regulate their internal ion concentration, their blood
salinity will change with the external salinity
-polychaete worm
osmoregulators
organisms that can maintain their internal ion concentration over a wide
range of salinities. May be using active membrane pumps.
-shanuk salmon and freshwater eel
Stenohaline
organisms that can tolerate only a narrow range of salinities
Euryhaline
organisms that can tolerate a wide range of salinities
estuaries are a _____ diversity, ____biomass environment
low, high
Saltmarsh
-Upper reaches of the estuary
-Dominated by rooted, flowering grasses in temperate regions and
mangroves in tropical regions
One of the most productive ecosystems on earth
saltmarsh
seagrass
-Intertidal and subtidal region of the estuary
--Mostly detrital based food web- little of the primary production is
consumed by herbivores

mudflat
-Subtidal and lower parts of the intertidal zones
Productivity is inversely correlated with grain size (smaller grain size, higher
productivity)
ecological importance of estuaries
-Important spawning and nursery grounds for some species
-Take advantage of warmer, food rich environment of estuary
-Flooding control- porous soils absorb floodwater
-Pollution filter: Sediment and nutrient loads are filtered out in the salt
marsh
tidal streaming
a behavior where an organism moves up in the water column on a flood tide
and down in the water column on an ebb tide in order to try to maintain
position in the estuary
Coral reefs
-Found in tropical, well lit waters
--Created by hard portion of living and once living organisms
-Dominant reef-building organisms called framework builders
-Produce the matrix for the growing reef
-Corals and coralline algae produce calcium carbonate skeletons

factors limiting reef growth

(Low temperatures, low salinity, low light, and high turbidity which reduces
light and can smother the polyps)
wave energy effect on reefs
-Moving water brings nutrients and zooplankton to the reef
-Wave energy also detrimental to corals particularly branching forms
-Tropical storms can exert massive damage on reefs
atoll
-Corals grew upward from the top of a sinking volcano
fringing reefs
-A thin layer of corals on a subtidal coast
Barrier reefs
-Separated from mainland by a deep channel
-Great Barrier reef off Australia or barrier reefs off belize
Zooxanthellae
A specialized dinoflagellate that has adapted to live as a symbiont in corals
and some anemones and giant clams
How corals feed
The polyps capture zooplankton and the corals benefit from the nutrition
they get from the symbiotic zooxanthellae
corals deal with with limited space by...
-Corals can out-shade neighbors
-Corals are not defenseless—the can exude digestive filaments to attack and
kill neighboring colonies
Diversity on reefs
high diversity
-Competitive exclusion may be avoided because each species has a
particular ecological niche
-Each species utilizes slightly different resources of food and space on the
reef and so are not competing directly
coral bleaching
When corals expel their zooxanthellae due to some stressor
nonextractive resources
any use of the ocean there is--such as transportation of people and
commodities by sea, recreation, and waste disposal
petroleum
most important nonrenewable extractive marine resource
Other Abiotic (nonrenewable) resources

-Methane hydrates (energy)

-Sand and gravel (construction)
-Salt (construction and consumption)
-Magnesium (metal construction)
2 main types of extractive resources:
energy and biological resources (food or medicine)
maximal growth rate occurs at an ______ density
intermediate

1. What do all invertebrates have in common? (what makes an

invertebrate an invertebrate?)
a. No backbone – soft bodied with no rigid internal structures
b. 90% all living organisms

1. What change on earth allowed for animals to evolve?

a. Originally more carbon dioxide than oxygen
b. Oxygen producing bacteria came 3 billion years ago (photosynthesis)

What are coelomates, acoelomates, and pseudocoelomates?

a. Acoelmates & Pseudocolemates – bilaterally symmetric, anterior
cephalization
b. Acoelmates – lack internal body cavity
c. Pseudocolemates – poorly built internal body cavity
Colemates – posses a true coelom (internal body structure), embryotic
development
Porifera
sponges, multicellular, non tissues or organs, permanently attached to hard
shell (sessile) , suspended/filter feeder, shaped like vase, flagella, sticky
collar
Cnidaria
a. specialized tissues (swimming and feeding), nematocysts (stinging
cells), radial symmetry, Medusa or Pollup (pollup – asexual reproduction,
Medua – asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction) (Anemones, jellyfish,
corals)
i. Hydrozoa – Powerful toxins, predators (Portoguese man of
war - toxins)
ii. Scyphozoa – large medusas, small polyps
iii. Anthozoa – solitary or colonial polyps, sticky tenacles, asexual
(exclusively polyps) gorgonians
iv. Use Nematocysts (capture)
Ctenophora
a. marine planktonic, small predators, radially symmetric, gelatinous,
sticky celloblasts, 8 bands of cilia
i. Use Colloblasts (sticky)
Plathyhelminthes
i. Turbellaria – benthic, flattened, simplest organism with tissues
organized into organs, central nervous system, brain, coordinated
movement of muscular system
ii. Trematoda - flukes
iii. Cestodata – tapeworms (parasitic)
Nematoda
highly abundant, free living and parasitic, important ecologically, found in
soft sediments
Nemertea
tapeworm, complete gut, mouth, anus, circulatory system, proboscis,
marine, longest invertebrate
Annedlida
tentacles, prey on animals
Muollusca
i. Gastropoda – coiled organs and shell, herbavors (snails)
ii. Bivalvia – laterally compressed, gills, gooeyguck (clams)
iii. Cephalopoda – complex nervous system, highly mobile, siphon for
locomotion, behavior pattern and problem solving, large eyes (octopus)
Arthropoda
largest phylum, insects on land, custaceans in ocean, exoskeleton made of
chiton, bilaterally symmetric, segmented, jointed appendages, molting with
growth
Crustacea
a. internal gills, specialized appendages, pair of sensory appendages,
complex
i. Decapods – food source, complex legs and mouth, cephalothrax,
abdomen, largest group (crabs and lobster)
ii. Horeshoe Crabs – ancient, 5 species, blood important
pharmaceutically, spawning migrations (birds)
iii. Echinoderms – radially symmetric, secondary symmetry (sea
stars, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers)

What is macroalgae and how is it different from plants? - Large algae;

seaweed. It does not produce flowers or seeds like plants do

How do plankton move from place to place? - They drift in the current
because they can't swim against it. Some plankton have appendages called
cilia that allow them to slowly move up and down

What are phytoplankton? - Form of plankton that conducts photosynthesis;

autotrophic

What are zooplankton? - Animal form of plankton; heterotrophic

What are the five common members of marine phytoplankton? - Diatoms,

dinoflagellates, coccolithophorids, cyanobacteria, green algae

What is a harmful algal bloom? How does it form? - A massive population

bloom of algae that produces toxin. They form when growth conditions for
the phytoplankton are favorable (sufficient nutrients and sunlight)

What is the difference between a Holoplankton and a Meroplankton? -

Holoplankton spend their entire lives as plankton. Meroplankton are only
plankton during developmental stages and as adults are classified nekton or
benthos

What are copepods and euphausiids? Why are they important in the marine
environment? - They are small shrimplike crustaceans (euphausiids are
larger, slower, and live longer). Copepods are a link between the producers
(phytoplankton) and primary carnivorous consumers

How do zooplankton control the biomass of primary producers in the ocean?

- They consume them for energy; grazing (top-down control)

What is the microbial loop? - Processes that convert dissolved organic matter
into biomass that can be consumed by other organisms

Why is dissolved organic matter important in the marine environment? -

Through the microbial loop, dissolved organic matter is converted into
biomass that can be consumed by other organisms

What is the difference between gross and net production? - Gross production
is the total amount of organic material produced through photosynthesis.
Net production is the gross production of organic matter minus the reduction
in organic matter due to respiration.

Explain how primary productivity can be measure by the carbon-14 method?

The light-
dark bottle method?
Explain how primary productivity can be measure by the carbon-14 method?
The light-
dark bottle method?
Explain how primary productivity can be measure by the carbon-14 method?
The light-
dark bottle method?
Explain how primary productivity can be measure by the carbon-14 method?
The light-
dark bottle method? - Carbon-14 method: Water is collected and carbon-14
is added. Carbon-14 is used for tracking carbon dioxide conversion to
organic carbon
Light-dark bottle method: Light bottles are used to measure net production
and the dark bottles are used to measure respiration. Comparing the two
bottles allows for calculation of gross and net production and respiration

What processes does phytoplankton biomass depend on? - Growth and

reproduction (increasing factors) death and grazing (decreasing factors)

How can a phytoplankton bloom occur? - They occur when growth conditions
for the phytoplankton are favorable (sufficient nutrients and sunlight)

What is bottom-up control? - Primary producers control the growth and

regulation of higher trophic levels

What is top-down control? - Higher trophic levels control abundance and

dynamics of lower trophic levels

What is compensation depth? - Depth where the amount of oxygen

production from photosynthesis equals the oxygen consumption from
respiration
What is critical depth? - Depth that phytoplankton can be moved to with
vertical mixing where oxygen production levels equal respiration levels.
Deeper than this, they spend more time in dark than sunlight

What is a trophic pyramid? - The different trophic levels together, beginning

with primary producers at the bottom and the apex predators at the top
(forms a pyramid because there is less energy and biomass at each higher
level)

What is trophic efficiency? - The amount of energy transferred from one

trophic level to the next, about 10%

What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? - A food chain
is a sequence of organisms where each is consumed by the next. A food web
is more complex, it includes multiple food chains, describing an entire
community

How does primary productivity and fish catch relate to one another? - The
more biomass at the bottom of the trophic pyramid, the more biomass
possible at each higher level. More primary producers = more fish to catch

What is iron fertilization? Where and how would it work? - Providing the
small amounts of iron phytoplankton need in open ocean environments that
they don't naturally have. The idea is that with this added nutrient, there will
be an increase in phytoplankton biomass in open ocean areas fertilized.

What are characteristics of chordates?

a. Notocord – stiffened structure (backbone)
b. Tubular, dorsal nervous system (central nervous system)
c. Gill slits (at some point in development)
What are the two groups of the most primitive chordates and give an
example organisms of each
a. Urochordates – sea squirts
b. Cephalochordates - lancets

What is an example of a transitional organism from invertebrates and

vertebrates?
Cephalochordates – laterally compresses (fish bodies), filter feeders,
inhabiting soft bottom areas
1. What are major defining characteristics of various classes of fish?
a. Agnatha
i. Jawless hagfish – benthic scavenger, secrete slime
ii. Lampreys – eel like bodies with no scales, predators and
scavengers reduction of fish in great lakes

b. Chondricthyes - Large, lack true scales, denticles, predators, pelagic,

internal embryos (sharks), large range of feeding strategies, cartilage, long
time to maturity
i. Ratfish – cartilage fish, benthic predators

c. Osteichtheyes – bony fish (tuna and cod), skeletons, flexible scales,

swim bladder (gas or oil filled), thin (shape depends on lifestyle)
What are some benefits of schooling?
- Reduces probability of individual being detected
- Confusing to predator, scarier
- Predators are rapidly satiated
- Reduction in swimming drag
What are the four major sensory systems in sharks?
1. Low frequency Vibrations (lateral lines)
2. Water born odors (pits on underside of snouts, water continuously flows
and if nostrils are plugged then they smell something)
3. Vision (see prey)
4. Elctro-magnetic field (ampullae of lorenzini)
The largest sharks feed on the smallest organisms, plankton. (a trend
common for whales as well)
Planktivorous
What is different about the feeding strategies of great white sharks when
they are preying on seals versus sea lion?
- Sea Lion – attack twice
- Seals – attack once
- Sea lions are larger and could injure the sharks if not attacked twice
What are the 4 types of coloration strategies and what are they used for?
1. Countershading – lightly colored on underside and dark colored on dorsal
(top) side. Blends in when looking from under or above.
2. Disruptive – camoflauge, cant see outlines of animals, blend in
3. Cryptic – Disguises the shape of the fish
4. Warning – bold colors to you know are poisonous
What body shape has the least amount of drag as it move through the
water?
Teardrop shape
What are examples of marine reptiles? Where are they found? (tropical and
subtropical). What to they need land for (for nesting/laying eggs)
- Sea Turtles – (eat jellyfish)
- Sea Snakes – (venom)
- Marine Iguanas - graze on seaweed (bottom of ocean)
- Saltwater Crocodiles – (largest marine reptile)
What are the 3 orders of marine mammals?
1. Carnivora – sea otters, pinnipeds
2. Sirenia – manatees and dugong
i. Manatees – endangered, cant hear, florida boat problem
3. Cetecea – whales, dolphins, propoises
i. Warm blooded, dorsal fin, spend all time in water
What are the physical differences between sea lions and seals?
- Seals – rear flipper cannot be pulled forward, no external ear flap
- Sea Lions –rear flipper can be pulled forward, external ear flap
- (both need land for resting and breeding)
1. What was the example about threats to Walruses about?
a. Loss of ice cover – mother forced to abandon pup
b. Continental ice shelf is melting (max dive is 200m)
c. Forced to swim longer distances – skinnier à (extinction)
1. From the example in lecture, why were otter populations declining, and
what effect did this have on the habitat where they live?
a. Killer Whales and hunted for fur
b. Dietary shift – whales stopped eating sea lions and seals, now eating
otters
c. More sea urchins present now, and less kelp
d. Sea otters – layer of blubber, insulation and buoyancy
e. Eat benthic invertebrates
f. Use tools
1. What are the 2 suborders of cetaceans and how do they differ?
a. Odontoceti – toothed whales, teeth, single blowhole, agile, deep diving,
carnivores (large animals)
b. Mysticeti – baleen whales, no teeth, two blowholes, killer whales,
plankton and small fish
1. What are adaptations for deep diving?
a. Increases oxygen capacity of blood
b. Slowing of heart rate
c. Restriction of blood flow to non critical areas
d. Tolerance of anaerobic conditions
e. Maintenance of body temperatures
1. What are the advantages to being big?
a. Greater volume relative to its surface, maintain heat
1. Why do whales make very long migrations?
a. Follow the food source
b. High latitudes where there is greater productivity
c. Migrate to lower latitudes to breed
d. (Echolocation)
1. Manatees are the only herbivorous marine mammal.
live in warm water
What is an example of convergent evolution between cetaceans and fish?
Tear shaped bodies that enable them to swim fast

1. What do all invertebrates have in common? (what makes an

invertebrate an invertebrate?)
a. No backbone – soft bodied with no rigid internal structures
b. 90% all living organisms

1. What change on earth allowed for animals to evolve?

a. Originally more carbon dioxide than oxygen
b. Oxygen producing bacteria came 3 billion years ago (photosynthesis)

What are coelomates, acoelomates, and pseudocoelomates?

a. Acoelmates & Pseudocolemates – bilaterally symmetric, anterior
cephalization
b. Acoelmates – lack internal body cavity
c. Pseudocolemates – poorly built internal body cavity
Colemates – posses a true coelom (internal body structure), embryotic
development

Porifera
sponges, multicellular, non tissues or organs, permanently attached to hard
shell (sessile) , suspended/filter feeder, shaped like vase, flagella, sticky
collar
Cnidaria
a. specialized tissues (swimming and feeding), nematocysts (stinging
cells), radial symmetry, Medusa or Pollup (pollup – asexual reproduction,
Medua – asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction) (Anemones, jellyfish,
corals)
i. Hydrozoa – Powerful toxins, predators (Portoguese man of
war - toxins)
ii. Scyphozoa – large medusas, small polyps
iii. Anthozoa – solitary or colonial polyps, sticky tenacles, asexual
(exclusively polyps) gorgonians
iv. Use Nematocysts (capture)

Ctenophora
a. marine planktonic, small predators, radially symmetric, gelatinous,
sticky celloblasts, 8 bands of cilia
i. Use Colloblasts (sticky)

Plathyhelminthes
i. Turbellaria – benthic, flattened, simplest organism with tissues
organized into organs, central nervous system, brain, coordinated
movement of muscular system
ii. Trematoda - flukes
iii. Cestodata – tapeworms (parasitic)
Nematoda
highly abundant, free living and parasitic, important ecologically, found in
soft sediments

Nemertea
tapeworm, complete gut, mouth, anus, circulatory system, proboscis,
marine, longest invertebrate

Annedlida
tentacles, prey on animals
Muollusca
i. Gastropoda – coiled organs and shell, herbavors (snails)
ii. Bivalvia – laterally compressed, gills, gooeyguck (clams)
iii. Cephalopoda – complex nervous system, highly mobile, siphon for
locomotion, behavior pattern and problem solving, large eyes (octopus)
Arthropoda
largest phylum, insects on land, custaceans in ocean, exoskeleton made of
chiton, bilaterally symmetric, segmented, jointed appendages, molting with
growth
Crustacea
a. internal gills, specialized appendages, pair of sensory appendages,
complex
i. Decapods – food source, complex legs and mouth, cephalothrax,
abdomen, largest group (crabs and lobster)
ii. Horeshoe Crabs – ancient, 5 species, blood important
pharmaceutically, spawning migrations (birds)
iii. Echinoderms – radially symmetric, secondary symmetry (sea
stars, brittle stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers)

Seastars are a keystone predator. (Sea Stars remove them, muscles grow)
What kind of community do you get when you remove a keystone predator?
A community dominated by one species – Ex. mussels

Under what level of disturbance will we find the most diverse

communities? Why?
The most diverse communities would be found where there are moderate
levels of disturbances because species will be outcompeted.
Diversity is lowest at where disturbances are either constant or very low -
not a lot can survive.

Kelp is a macrophyte that grows in temperate, rocky, subtidal areas.

What physical factor is most limiting to animals that live in the sediments of
the mud flats?
Oxygen

If a substrate is poorly sorted, you could expect a poor water exchange

because water drainage will be blocked.
Intertidal Zone
-Zone between the tides.
-The area on the shoreline that is between the high tide line and the low tide
line.
-Can have varying coverage of water depending upon the phase of the tide
Subtidal Zone
-The area below the low tide line
-Will always be covered with water because it’s below the low tide
line.

Physical stresses in an intertidal zone

-Air exposure, emersion (be exposed to air, above water)
-Temperature and salinity fluctuations
-Wave action

adaptations for air exposure

-Animals that can move seek wet areas when the tide recedes so that they
can remain in water-Snails, chitons
-Animals that can’t move (sessile) close up to prevent dessication and live in
groups to retain moisture -Mussels
-Animals that can’t move are adapted to tolerate great water loss-Seaweeds,
some chitons can tolerate the loss of 75-90% of the water in their tissues.
Adaptations for salinity and temperature fluctuations
-Be adapted to tolerate large temperature fluctuations
-Mobile animals can seek out wet areas where temperature fluctuations are
less
-Light coloration to reduce heating when exposed to the sun

adaptations for wave action

-Be flexible (seaweed)
-Strong attachments (mussels-bissel threads)
-Live in groups- if mussels settle in a group they keep the water flowing
more smoothly so less turbulence and less pulling off the rock.

Biological stresses in an intertidal zone

-Predation
-Competition
-Food
-Space
-Reproductive success
What dictates zonation in an intertidal zone
A combination of physical and biological stresses. Biological stresses are
more important in the lower part of the intertidal zone and physical stresses
are more important in the upper part of the intertidal zone

Keystone Predators
-Predators whose effects on their community are proportionally greater than
their abundance
3 subtidal communities
-Kelp Forest
-Sandy beaches and mud flats
-Reefs
-Rocky Reefs
-Coral Reefs

Kelp forests
-Highly productive
-Provides important habitat
-Found in temperate, rocky areas

Physical factors on a sandy beach or mudflat

-Wave action
-Substrate movement
-Physical battery
-Particle size
-Water retention
-Burrowing
-Slope
-Water retention
-May control particle size
fairly constant __temperature___ and __saalinity__ with depth
__ Oxygen__ levels decrease with depth.

adaptations for wave action on a sandy beach

-Live deep enough in the substrate that you are not affected
-Be able to burrow quickly after being removed by a wave
-Have a smooth shell to allow quick burrowing
-Have a ridged shell to grip the sand
-Small sand dollars accumulate iron as a weight
adaptations to avoid predation on a sandy beach
-Remain in burrow
-Diel activity pattern,

adaptations for low oxygen on a mudflat

-Make permanent burrow with opening to the surface to allow oxygen rich
water to enter the burrow
-Have additional oxygen carrying pigments in the blood

Sandy beaches overall are areas of __low__ primary productivity.

The total range controls the zonation on the sandy beach and the mudflat is
____ fairly level and has little or no____ zonation.

What stresses are organisms in this habitat faced with?

Predation, Competition – space and food (stresses related to amount of time
spent above water line), Reproductive Success – need to understand
upwelling and travel

What factors determine zonation of species in this habitat?

Competition for Space, Tolerance of factors decides where it will live in the
zone

What does the intermediate disturbance hypothesis predict?

- Species diversity is highest at intermediate disturbance levels (NOT
constant)
- Ecological Succession – how a community forms after a disturbance
- Climax Community – wont change much until next disturbance
What are the major habitat types?
- Kelp Forest – highly productive, temperate/rocky areas, cold nutrient rich
waters
- Sandy Beaches and Mud Flats – substrate movement, physical battery

What types of stresses do organisms in these habitats face, how have they
adapted to them?
- Wave action – burrow quickly to avoid movement
- Predators – diel activity pattern, anpopod (bury during day and move at
night)
- Low Oxygen – make burrow with hole for oxygen rich water to get in,
additional oxygen carrying pigments in the blood
- Particle size – sorting, same size: more oxygen throughout, mixing: poor
oxygen situation
- Slope of beach – water retention, control particle size

Characteristics of the food web:

Primary Producers – mud flats are more productive than sandy beaches,
fairly level, usually below CCD (plankton, diatoms)
Secondary Producers
- Deposit Feeders – feed on organic material located on or in sediments
(worms)
- Suspension Feeders – animals that filer particles out of the surrounding
water (clams, sand crabs)

- Interstitial fauna – animals that live in the spaces between sand grains
*Detritus – super important
- Carnivores (snails, crabs, fishes, birds)

How do the species gradients/zonation differ between sandy beach and mud
flat habitats?
Sandy Beach – total range, Mudflat – fairly level, little to no zonation
What controls the amount of oxygen in the sediment?
Amount of water exchange (particle size), The greater the water exchange,
the higher the oxygen levels

What are the general characteristics of the sandy beach and mudflat?
Temperature and salinity are fairly constant with depth, Oxygen decreases
with depth, Low Primary Production (depend on detritus as food)

What does particle size determine on a beach of mudflat?

How much space there is between the grains, How much the substrate will
shift around, How easy it is to burrow, How much water is retained

2 adaptions animals have to erosion...

Move to areas that are moist, Physiologically tolerant of water loss, live in
groups, close up

If an organism can change its blood salinity with the surrounding area, what
is that called?
Perfect Osmoregulator
2/21/2015 9:29:00 PM