Oceanography - Chapter 12
Copepod
- Eats other Plankton - Lives entire life as a plankton - Very small, you need a microscope to see it
Water Pressure
- Increases about 1 atmosphere every 10 meters deep - Many marine organisms -no inner air pockets - Collapsible rib cage (e.g. Sperm whale)
Nekton
- Independent swimmers, location dictated by their own movement and not the ocean current - Most adult fish and squid - Marine Mammals - Marine reptiles
Euryhaline
- Organisms withstand large variation in salinity - Typically live in coastal waters, ie. estuaries
Eurythermal
- Organisms withstand large variation in temperature - Typically live in coastal waters
Stenohaline
- Organisms withstand only small variation in salinity - Typically live in open ocean
Stenothermal
- Organisms withstand small variation in temperature - Typically live in open ocean
Cold vs. Warm water species
- Smaller in warm seawater - More appendages in warm - Tropical organisms grow faster, live shorter, reproduce often - More species in warmer water - More biomass in cooler
Benthic Environments
- Supralittoral (spray zone) - Subnertic ~ Littoral (intertidal) ~ Sublittoral *Inner (Marine algae grow attached to bottom * Outer (no marine algae to bottom) - Suboceanic ~ Bathyal ~ Abyssal ~ Hadal - deepest zone
Gils
- Way animals extract dissolved oxygen from seawater - Gills exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide directly with seawater - Low marine oxygen levels can kill fish
Osmotic pressure
- in more concentrated solutions - Prevents passage of water molecules Isotonic - having the same (or equal) osmotic pressure and same water potential since the two solutions have an equal concentration of water molecules. Hypertonic - Having a higher osmotic pressure in a fluid relative to another fluid. Hypotonic - having a lesser osmotic pressure in a fluid compared to another fluid
Carolus Linnaeus
1758 - Developed basis of modern classification of organisms
What are nektobenthos? (Ch. 12, Section "Benthos")
A type of Benthos that swims or crawls through water above the seafloor
Three Domains of LIfe
Archaea, Bacterteria, Eukarya
What are the 3 domains of life? (Ch. 12, Section "The Three Domains of Life")
Archaea, Bacterteria, Eukarya
Phytoplankton
Autotrophic: make their own food CO2 + H20 + Sunlight = CH20 + O2 Carbondioxide, water, and sunlight equals calcium chloride plus oxygen
Plankton are organisms that float. Why is a copepod, which can swim and propel itself through the water, classified as plankton? (Ch. 12, Section "Plankton")
Because of its size and floating nature, cannot move on its own
Of Earth's total number of species, why are the fewest in the marine pelagic realm? (Ch. 12, Section "How Many Marine Species Exist?")
Benthic habitats are more varied
Ocean Marine Life: Majority Benthic or Pelagic?
Benthic, habitats are more varied
Benthos
Bottom Dwellers - organisms living on or near the ocean bottom - Most abundant in shallower water because of larger food supply - Food supply main limiting factor for benthic animals - Many live in perpetual darkness, coldness, and stillness
Oxygen Minimum Layer
Dissolved about 700-1000 meters - O2 content increases with depth below
Types of Benthos
Epifauna - Live on the surface of the sea floor Infauna - live buried in sediments Nektobenthos - swim or crawl through water above the seafloor
Plankton
Floaters - Most biomass on Earth consists of plankton
What is the primary factor that limits life on the deep-ocean floor? (Ch. 12, Section "Benthos")
Food supply
• What is the deepest zone of the suboceanic province? (Ch. 12, Section "Benthic Environment")
Hadal
Zooplankton
Heterotrophic: consumers of organism matter CH20 + O2 = C02 + H20 + energy
Diffusion
High concentration to low concentration Ex: cell membrane permeable to nutrients
Systemized Classification of Organisms
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species King Paul Came Over From Germany Saturday
Macroplankton
Large floaters such as jellyfish or Sargassum - Lions Mane Jellyfish Largest in the world
Organisms that only spend part of their life cycle as plankton are referred to as what? (Ch. 12, Section "Plankton")
Meroplankton
Fungi
Mold, lichen
Five KIngdoms
Monera, Protoctista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia
Ocean Temperature
More stable than land: - Higher heat capacity of water - Ocean warming reduced by evaporation - Solar radiation penetrates deeply into ocean layers - Ocean mixing
Animalia
Multicelled animals Ex: Simple sponges to complex vertebrates
Plantae
Multicelled, photosynthetic plants Ex; Surf grass, eelgrass, mangrove, marsh grasses
Aphotic
Ocean zone - No light
Disphotic
Ocean zone - small but measurable quantities of light
Euphotic
Ocean zone - surface to where enough light exists to support photosynthesis
Pelagic Environment
Open sea - Divided into biozones: - Neritic Province - from shore seaward, all water less than 200 meters deep - Oceanic - depth increases beyond 200 meters, subdivided into four biozones
Organisms that can photosynthesize and produce their own food are called what? (Ch. 12, Section "Plankton")
Phytoplankton (autotrophic)
Types of Plankton
Phytoplankton - autotrophic Zooplankton - heterotrophic
What marine organism represents the vast majority of the ocean's biomass? (Ch. 12, Section "How Are Marine Organisms Classified?")
Plankton
Benthic
Sea floor - Subnertic and suboceanic
Monera
Simplest organisms, single-celled Ex: Cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, archaea
Proctista
Sing and multicelled with nucleus Ex: Algae, protozoa
Holoplankton
Spends entire lives as plankton
Meroplankton
Spends part of lives as plankton, Juvenile or larval stages Ex: Squid
Why do most fish and marine mammals have the same torpedo-like, streamlined shape? (Ch. 12, Section "Water's Viscosity")
Streamlined shape allows them to have less resistance to fluid flow; non-streamlined organisms create wakes as they move, where as streamlined do not, or have less noticeable wakes
Oceanic Providence
Subdivided into four biozones: - Epipelagic - Only zone to support photosynthesis; Dissolved oxygen decreases around 200 meters - Mesopelagic - organisms capable of bioluminscence common - Bathypelagic - Abyssopelagic
Taxonomy
Systematic classification of organisms based on physical characteristics and genetic information
Why is the surface area to volume ratio important for phytoplankton? (Ch. 12, Section "Water's Viscosity")
The greater the surface area to volume ratio, the more buoyant and resistant to sinking organisms can be
Countershading
Type of camouflage - dark on top, light on bottom
Disruptive coloration
Type of camouflage - large, bold patterns, contrasting colors make animal blend into background
Nanoplankton, Picoplankton
Very small floaters such as bacterioplankton, as well as most phytoplankton and zooplankton
Bacterioplankton
Very small, very abundant
Virioplankton
Viruses in the ocean (EColi)
Osmosis
Water molecules move from less concentrated to more concentrated solutions
• Most fresh water fish are hypertonic, meaning their body cells contain more salt than the surrounding water. Since osmosis should push water into their cells, why don't they explode? (Ch. 12, Section "Salinity")
o Because the Osmotic Pressure prevents passage of water molecules
• What are the reasons the ocean has a smaller daily, seasonal, and annual temperature range than that experienced on land? (Ch. 12, Section "Temperature")
o Consistently influenced by the radiation from the sun; water absorbs sun light energy and keeps temperature consistent
• What are the 4 biozones of the oceanic province? (Ch. 12, Section "What are the main divisions of the marine environment?")
o Epipelagic, Mesopelagic, Bathypelagic, Abyssopelagic
• Freshwater fish are isotonic, hypertonic, or hypotonic relative to their environment? (Ch. 12, Section "Salinity")
o Hypertonic, water moves into their cell membranes
• How does water pressure change with depth? (Ch. 12, Section "Pressure")
o It increases the deeper one goes - Increases about 1 atmosphere every 10 meters deep
• What is the definition of eurythermal? (Ch. 12, Section "Temperature")
o Organisms that can withstand large variation in temperature; they typically reside in coastal waters
• What is the neritic province? (Ch. 12, Section "What are the main divisions of the marine environment?")
o Subdivsion of the Pelagic Zone, near shore above the continental shelf - all waters less than 200 meters deep from shore seaward
• What is the euphotic zone? (Ch. 12, Section "What are the main divisions of the marine environment?")
o Surface to where enough light exists to support photosynthesis o Part of the Photic zone; Within the euphotic zone, autotrophic organisms receive enough sunlight to make enough food (by photosynthesis) for their lives to continue. During daylight hours, light is available below the euphotic zone, but it is not bright enough to allow the photosynthetic machinery of autotrophs to produce enough food to sustain them indefinitely.
• What is the primary difference between pelagic environment zones below the photic zone? (Ch. 12, Section "What Are Living Things, and How Are They Classified?")
o The amount of light, and therefore photosynthesis, that takes place. Aphiotic zone has a permanently dark layer of seawater