Transcript Life in the Oceans

Study Pack #10
Today’s Goals…

I can describe the characteristics of ocean
organisms
 I can distinguish among producers,
consumers, and decomposers
Ocean Life
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Plankton
 Nekton
 Bottom Dwellers
Plankton
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Tiny organisms that float in ocean currents
 Examples:
– Eggs of ocean animals
– Very young fish
– Larval jelly fish and crabs
– Tiny adults of some organisms
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Nekton

Animals that can actively swim
 Often feed on plankton
 Examples:
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Fish
Whales
Shrimp
Turtles
Squid
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Bottom Dwellers
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Live on the ocean bottom
 Can burrow into sediments, walk or
swim on bottom, or be attached to
seafloor
 Examples:
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Anemones
Crabs
Corals
Snails
Starfish
Some fish
Ocean Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a community of organisms
and the nonliving factors that affect them
– Sunlight, water, nutrients, sediments, gases
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Every ecosystem has a:
– Producers
– Consumers
– Decomposers
Producers

Base of ecosystem
 Organisms that can make their own food
– Photosynthesis
– Chemosynthesis
Consumers

Organisms that eat producers
 Depend on producers for survival
 Get energy from the producers
Decomposers

Digest producers and consumers when they
die
 Example: bacteria
Food Chains
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Energy is transferred from producers to
consumers to decomposers through food
chains