Transcript Chapter 14 - COSEE Florida

CHAPTER 14
Animals of the Pelagic Environment
http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards
http://www.yoto98.noaa.gov/books/whales
How organisms avoid sinking

Increase buoyancy
 Gas containers
○ Rigid container such as shells (internal or
external) or…
○ Swim bladder
Fig. 14.2
http://www.fineartradiography.com/images/nautilus-pos.jpg
How organisms avoid sinking

Float – less dense than saltwater or
neutral
 Microscopic zooplankton have
shells or tests
○ Radiolarians
○ Foraminifers
○ Copepods
 Macroscopic zooplankton may
have oil droplets
 Krill (resemble mini-shrimp or
large copepods)
Fish egg with
oil droplet
Krill
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/klf/MicroGaller
yLarge_files/Forams1.jpg
http://www.sfos.uaf.edu/research/arcdiv/watercolumn/euphausiid/images
How to avoid sinking
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Floating macroscopic
zooplankton
Cnidarians
 Hydrozoan (Portuguese
man-of-war) gas-filled
float
 Scyphozoan (jellyfish)
soft low-density bodies
http://www.aboututila.com/Photos/AdamLaverty/
How to avoid sinking

Active swimming
 Fish – swim by curving body from front to back
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x245/Aquaman1956/fish_swimming.gif
http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/sixcms/media.php/591
How to avoid sinking
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Active swimming – Squid
 Swim by trapping water and expelling it
 Also swim by using fins
Unknown deep sea squid
http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues96/may96
http://www.mbari.org/news/news_releases/2001/dec21_clague/squid_swimming-400.jpg
How to avoid sinking

Active swimming
 sea turtles use flippers
 marine mammals use up/down tail movements
 Different from fish
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/estuarine/images/
Fin designs in fish
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Vertical fins as stabilizers
○ dosral and anal fins
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Paired fins for “steering” and balance
○ Pelvic and pectoral
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Tail fin (caudal) for thrust
http://www.biologycorner.com/resources/fish_fins.gif
Fin designs in fish
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Rounded caudal fins flexible,
maneuver at slow speeds
Truncate fins and forked fins,
useful for both maneuvering and
thrust
Lunate fins rigid, lots of thrust
for fast swimmers
Heterocercal fins asymmetrical,
lift for buoyancy (shark)
Adaptations for finding prey
Mobility
 Lungers wait for prey and
pounce (grouper)
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 Mainly white muscle tissue
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Cruisers actively seek prey
(tuna)
 Mostly red muscle tissue
Adaptations for finding prey

Swimming speed
 Speed generally proportional to size
 Can move very fast for short time (mainly to avoid
predation)
http://images.inmagine.com/img/imagezoo/iz125/iz125022.jpg
http://chemistry.csudh.edu/faculty/jim/cozmay06best/barracuda.jpg
Adaptations to finding prey

Most fish coldblooded but some
are warm-blooded
 Homeothermicbody temperature
above sea water
temperature
 Modifications in
circulatory
system
 Mainly in fastswimming fish
http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2005/10/051031133653.jpg
Adaptations of deep-water nekton
Mainly fish that consume detritus or each
other
 Lack of abundant food
 Bioluminescence
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○ http://www.ted.com/talks/edith_widder_glowing_life
_in_an_underwater_world.html
Fishing lures
 Large,
sensitive eyes
Anglerfish
w/ males
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http://www.antoranz.net/CURIOSA/ZBIOR2/C0301
Lanternfish
http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/organism/pictures/myctophid1.jpg
Adaptations of deep-water nekton
Large sharp teeth
 Expandable bodies
 Hinged jaws
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http://www.floranimal.ru/pages/animal/b
Adaptations to avoid predation
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Schooling
 “Safety in numbers”
 School may appear as
single larger unit
 Schooling maneuvers
confuse predator
http://www.oceanbrite.com/gallery/d/811-2/Fish_School.jpg
Some taxonomy……
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Fish
 Kingdom Animalia
○ Phylum Chordata
 Class Chondrichtyes – cartilaginous fish
- Sharks, rays
 Class Osteichthyes – bony fish
Chondrichthyes
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Cartilaginous Fish
Osteichthyes
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Very diverse group!
Marine Mammals
 Kingdom Animalia
 Phylum Chordata
○ Class Mammalia
 Order Carnivora
- Sea otters
- Polar Bears
- Pinnipeds – Family Odobenidae (walrus), Family
Otariidae (Sea lions), Family Phocidae (seals)
 Order Sirenia
- Manatees and dugongs
 Order Cetacea
- Whales
Whales
 Kingdom Animalia
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 Phylum Chordata
○ Class Mammalia
 Order Cetacea
- Suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales –
dolphins, orcas, sperm whales)
- Suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales – blue whale,
gray whale)
http://www.colonialzone-dr.com/images/manatee%20mother%20and%20calf.jpg
Marine
mammals
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Land-dwelling ancestors
Warm-blooded
Breathe air
Hair/fur
Bear live young
Mammary glands for milk
http://images.aad.gov.au/img.py/8bb.jpg
Marine mammals
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Carnivora
 Prominent canine
teeth
 Sea otters
 Polar bears
http://www.gaszappers.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/3-lazy-polar-bears.jpg
http://www.birdsasart.com/Sea-Otter-w-pup_T9J9119-Cordova,-AK.jpg
http://images.livescience.com/images/071008-walrus-04.jpg
Marine mammals
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Carnivora
 Pinnepeds
○ Walruses
 Eat crustaceans
with tusks
○ Seals
http://www.cambriarealty.com/images/seal_pic1.jpg
Marine
mammals

http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/newsletter/images/200796947570.Galapagos-Sea-lion-and-pup.jpg
Carnivora
 Pinnepeds
○ Sea lions
○ Fur seals
http://neilshedden.com/africa/images/animals/seals3.jpg
http://www.nepa.gov.jm/yourenv/biodiversity/Species/gifs/manatee.jpg
Marine
mammals
Sirenia
 Herbivores
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 Manatees
○ Coastal areas of
tropical Atlantic
Ocean
 Dugongs
○ Coastal areas of Indian
and western Pacific
Oceans
http://www.cnsweb.org/digestvertebrates/Photos/Dugong%20CL25_1b.jpg
Marine mammals

Cetacea
Stream-lined bodies for fast swimming
 Specialized skin (dermal ridges) structure
for fast swimming
 Whales
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 Toothed - carnivores
 Baleen – filter feeders
Cetacea
http://www.flheritage.com/facts/symbols/images/symbols/porpoise.jpg
Marine mammals
 Dolphins vs. porpoises
 Dolphins (Delphinidae)
○ 35 species
○ Beaks
Bottlenose dolphin
○ melon (fatty organ in forehead)
○ Prominent, curved dorsal fin
○ conical, undifferentiated teeth
○ Range in size from 1.5 m Hector's
dolphin to 9 m killer whales
 Porpoises (Phocoenidae)
○ 6 species
Harbor
porpoise
○ Lack prominent beak
○ laterally compressed teeth
○ More triangular dorsal fin
http://www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/community/
education/images/harbourporpoise/teeth2_small.gif
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=94551&rendTypeId=4
Cetacea
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Adaptations for deep diving
 Use oxygen efficiently
○ Able to absorb 90% of
oxygen inhaled
○ Able to store large
quantities of oxygen – high
levels of myoglobin and
hemoglobin
○ Able to reduce oxygen
required for noncritical
organs
○ Slowed cardiac rate
 Muscles insensitive to buildup
of CO2
 Collapsible lungs
http://www.freewebs.com/cetaceanrc/SpermWhale1.jpg
http://hearingresearch.net/pix/FultonCaldwell.gif
Cetacea

Suborder Odontoceti
(toothed)
 Dolphins, porpoises,
killer whale, sperm
whale
 Echolocation to
determine distance and
direction to objects
○ Clicks produced in nasal air
sacs are focused by the
melon
○ Echos received thru lower
jaw  middle ear
 Determine shape, size
of objects
Cetacea
Suborder Mysticeti
Baleen whales
 Blue whale, finback whale,
humpback whale, gray whale,
right whale
 Fibrous plates of baleen
sieve prey items
 Vocalized sounds for various
purposes
Fig. 14.23

Right whale
baleen
http://www.coastalstudies.org/what-we-do/right-whales/fieldnotes.htm
Marine reptiles
○
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/southflorida/everglades/estuarine/images/
Sea turtles
Prey depends on
species
Greens eat seagrass
(gut flora digests
cellulose)
Loggerheads eat
conch
Leatherbacks eat
jellyfish
 Nest on beaches:
predation, lights on
dunes
 Many overexploited
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Green
○
Marine iguanas of Galapagos Islands
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Feed on submerged algae
Dive for up to 20 minutes
Must surface before they become too cold and can’t
climb out of water
http://www.surtrek.com/en/images
/Program_pics/photogallery/gps
http://www.exzooberance.com/virt
ual%20zoo/they%20walk/iguana
○
Sea snakes of Pacific
 Highly poisonous
 Truly aquatic - reproduce in water - livebearers
http://www.oceanbrite.com/albums/Fiji/
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/info_services/publications/sotr/1998/photo
s
Misconceptions
Florida Sunshine State
Standards
Ocean Literacy Principles
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3e. - The ocean dominates the Earth’s carbon cycle. Half the primary productivity on Earth
takes place in the sunlit layers of the ocean and the ocean absorbs roughly half of all carbon
dioxide added to the atmosphere.
5a. - Ocean life ranges in size from the smallest virus to the largest animal that has lived on
Earth, the blue whale.
5b. - Most life in the ocean exists as microbes. Microbes are the most important primary
producers in the ocean. Not only are they the most abundant life form in the ocean, they have
extremely fast growth rates and life cycles.
5c. - Some major groups are found exclusively in the ocean. The diversity of major groups of
organisms is much greater in the ocean than on land.
5d. - Ocean biology provides many unique examples of life cycles, adaptations and important
relationships among organisms (symbiosis, predator-prey dynamics and energy transfer) that do
not occur on land.
5e. - The ocean is three-dimensional, offering vast living space and diverse habitats from the
surface through the water column to the seafloor. Most of the living space on Earth is in the
ocean.
5f. - Ocean habitats are defined by environmental factors. Due to interactions of abiotic
factors such as salinity, temperature, oxygen, pH, light, nutrients, pressure, substrate and
circulation, ocean life is not evenly distributed temporally or spatially, i.e., it is “patchy”. Some
regions of the ocean support more diverse and abundant life than anywhere on Earth, while
much of the ocean is considered a desert.
5g. - There are deep ocean ecosystems that are independent of energy from sunlight and
photosynthetic organisms. Hydrothermal vents, submarine hot springs, methane cold seeps, and
whale falls rely only on chemical energy and chemosynthetic organisms to support life.
5h. - Tides, waves and predation cause vertical zonation patterns along the shore, influencing
the distribution and diversity of organisms.
5i. - Estuaries provide important and productive nursery areas for many marine and aquatic
species.