Marine Adaptations

An adaptation is a characteristic to help an animal make a better fit in an environment.

Three marine adaptations that have developed include: interior gills, movement with: legs, tentacles, and fins, and a swim bladder.

Movement and specialized limbs: Muscular foot, tube feet, siphon, cilia.

Specialized eye structures: Ommatophores, tubular eyes, tapetum lucidium, increased rod cells.

Catching prey: Amullae of lorenzi, illicium.

Avoiding predators: Thick skin, shells, setae, toxin, claws, inking, mucus bubble, inflation.

Camouflage: blending in with the environment. Counter shading: coloration change between night and day or dark and light.

Bioluminescence: energy released in the form of light. Advantages: attract prey, camouflage, avoid predation, communication, attract mates. 90% of deep-sea creatures use bioluminescence.

Sea Chemistry

Dissolved Oxygen:
Amount of oxygen dissolved in a lake, stream, or river. Dissolved oxygen is the most important indicator of the health of a body of water and its capacity to support a balanced ecosystem of plants and animals. Dissolved oxygen comes from cell respiration and photosynthesis in the organism as well as from the atmosphere. So, in the Arctic Ocean, the water has a very low salinity - this will affect the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water positively because a lower salinity produces more dissolved oxygen. Also, the marine life will operate using higher levels of oxygen.

pH:
pH measures the acidity of water, pH stands for potential of hydrogen. A pH value is a number from 1-14, with 7 being the neutral point. As the number decreases, the solution is more acidic; as the number increases the solution becomes more basic.

Temperature:
A measure of hotness and coldness in degrees.

Salinity:
The total amount of dissolved material in grams in one kilogram of sea water.

Turbidity:
Having sediment or foreign particles stirred up or suspended.

Nitrite:
An element that is toxic to fish, causes eutrophication. Eutrophication creates in increase in nutrients, usually with an algae bloom caused by chemical run-off.

Fish Identification

Its actually pretty easy to identify fish. There are 3 ways to identify fish, basic fish markings, tail types, and mouth types. Superior(tarpon), terminal(barracuda), and inferior(yellow goatfish); examples of mouth types. Lunate(blue striped grunt), forked(tarpon), truncate(gray snapper), and rounded(goliath grouper); examples of tail types. Bars, stripes, and bands are all basic fish markings.

There are 11 basic groups of reef fish. Silvery fish, sloping head/tapered body fish, pectoral swimming fish with obvious scales, disk/oval fish, small oval fish, heavy body/large lipped fish, reddish, big eyed fish, bottom dwelling fish, odd-shaped fish, eels, and sharks and rays.

Silvery fish: two groups - ambush and schooling, open water swimmers, majority have deeply forked tails, streamlined bodies. Some examples are: barracuda, tarpon, and bermuda chub - these were all fish that were seen at the reef and around the island.

Sloping head/tapered body fish: elongated dorsal fin, inferior mouth, open water swimmers, night feeders, majority are fast swimmers. Some examples include: Mangrove/Gray snapper, yellowtail snapper, blue striped grunt, french grunt, and porkfish.

Pectoral fish with obvious scales: fly like birds around the edge of the reef, group is often brightly colored, change sex throughout life cycle, truncate tail, and a terminal or inferior mouth. Examples include: stoplight parrotfish, redband parrotfish, rainbow parrotfish, midnight parrotfish, blue parrotfish, hogfish, spanish hogfish, and bluehead wrasse.

Disk/oval fish: size varies among groups, reef-huggers, laterally compressed bodies, tiny pointed mouths, fairly active during the daytime, very colorful and usually have distinct markings. Examples include: banded butterfly fish, queen angelfish, blue tang, doctor fish, ocean surgeonfish.

Small oval fish: approximately 4 inches long, reef huggers, strongly territorial, swim well despite their feathery fins and tail, terminal mouths. Examples include: bicolor damselfish, sergeant major, blue chromis.

Heavy body/Large lipped fish: massive in size, slow moving due to size and truncate tail, reside under ledges at the base of the reef, suction feeders - so they swallow their prey as a whole. Examples include: groupers.

Reddish, Big-eyed fish: 1 inch to a foot long, inhabit cracks and crevices of the reefs, spiny dorsal fin, forked tail. Examples: squirrelfish.

Bottom-dwelling fish: 1 to 2 inches in length, terminal mouths, rounded tails, rest on bottom of reef with pectoral fins, mimics cleaning fish. Examples: neon goby.

Odd shaped fish: examples include: yellow goatfish, spotted scorpionfish, balloonfish, porcupine fish, trumpetfish.

Eels: very shy, inhabit crevices or under reef ledges, no pelvic or pectoral fins, continuous dorsal and caudal fins, undulate like territorial snakes, no scales - protective mucus layer, vary from 1.5 feet to 8 feet in length. Examples include: green and spotted moray eels.

Sharks and Rays: skeletons are composed of cartilage, rely on Ampullae of lorenzini to locate food, continuous replacement teeth, feeding occurs in open water during the early morning and at sunset. Examples include: nurse shark, reef shark, southern stingray, and spotted eagle ray.

Zebra Mussels

TOP 10 INVASIVE SPECIES
SPECIFIC REVIEW OF...

#1. Asian Carp

#2. Sea Squirt
#3. Lionfish
#4. Water Chestnuts
#5. Didymo
#6. Nutria
#7. Sea Lamprey
#8. Zebra Mussel
#9. Chinese Mitten Crab
#10. Alligator Weed

THESE ARE DANGEROUS SPECIES, TAKE CAUTION WHEN APPROACHING
SPECIFIC PROFILE...HEED CAUTION

#8.Zebra Mussel

Name: Dreissena polymorpha
Alias: Zebra Mussel, Zeke, "the Prowler"
Crime: Competes with native species, clogs pipes
Date of Introduction: 1988
Introduced From: Eurasia
Located:Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and some of Canada.
Characteristics: Fingernail-sized, freshwater mollusks with a striped pattern on both shells. Bivalve. Can grow up to 1 inch in length.
How to Prevent: After being in the water, scuba divers and sailors should clean their equipment on land so the mussels don't end up in the water again.

FBIs (Federal Bureau of Invasives) Top 10 Offenders

TOP 10 INVASIVE SPECIES
SPECIFIC REVIEW OF...

#1. Asian Carp

#2. Sea Squirt
#3. Lionfish
#4. Water Chestnuts
#5. Didymo
#6. Nutria
#7. Sea Lamprey
#8. Zebra Mussel
#9. Chinese Mitten Crab
#10. Alligator Weed

THESE ARE DANGEROUS SPECIES, TAKE CAUTION WHEN APPROACHING
SPECIFIC PROFILE...HEED CAUTION

#9. Chinese Mitten Crab

Name: Eriocheir sinensis
Alias: Chinese Mitten Crab, Morty, "the Menace"
Crime: Competes with native species
Date of Introduction: 1992 (West Coast), 2005 (East Coast)
Introduced From: China
Located: West Coast, Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay
Characteristics: Hairy claws with white tips, notch between the eyes, fourth spine is small, smooth body shape, 3 inches in width, legs are 6 inches long, light brown coloring
How to Capture: It is impossible to physically control them, their population is too immense to wipe out.
How to Kill: It is not ideal to use chemicals to eliminate them from the population because it would also kill other marine life.
How to Prevent: Humans have introduced these species as food and have been stuck to ship boats, knowing how to not distribute the species will prevent them from spreading.

Whale Falls

This image is the skeleton of a 35-ton, 13m gray whale on the sea bottom in Santa Catalina

Whale fall is the term used for a whale carcass that has fallen to the ocean floor. Whale falls were first observed in the 1980s, when we first had the technology for deep-sea exploration.

When a whale dies in shallow water, its carcass is devoured by scavengers, like snails, over a period of time. In deeper water, the carcass can provide sustenance for an ecosystem over decades.

Organisims observed at whale falls include: squat lobsters, bristleworms, prawns, shrimp, hagfish, crabs, sea cucumbers, octopuses, clams, and sleeper sharks. Whale falls also generally provide sustenance for tuberworms.

Mangroves

The green represents the population of Mangrove biomes in the world

Mangroves are types of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow is salty coastal sediment habitats. Mangroves are used in three senses:

1. The habitat and entire plant
2. All trees and large shrubs in the area
3. Refer to the Rhizophora

The mangrove biome is a distinct salty woodland or shrubland habitat characterized by coastal environments that have fine sediments that protect the plants from high-energy wave action. Mangroves dominate 75% of tropical coastlines.



The food web is represented by:

Estuary

Estuaries are a body of water formed where freshwater from rivers and streams flow into the ocean, mixing with the seawater. Although influenced by the tide, estuaries are protected from the full force of ocean waves, winds, and storms by the reefs, barrier islands, mud, or the sand that surround them. Making them a safe environment for creatures like: mussels, crabs, plankton, and seals. Notable examples of estuaries are: The Amazon River, Long Island Sound, and New York Harbor.

Because we rely on water, more than half of the people in the US live within 100 miles of the coast - and the shores of estuaries. Coastal communites are growing faster and faster than is countries elsewhere in the world. As more people flock to the shore, we upset the natural balance of estuaries and are threatening their health. We endanger estuaries by pollution, building on the lands surrounding them. By doing this we affect ourselves and it also leads to: beach and shellfish bed closings, harmful algae blooms, declines in fisheries, loss of habitat, and fish kills.

Kelp Forests

Kelp forests occur in cold, nutrient-rich water and are among the most beautiful and biologically productive habitats in the marine environment. They are found throughout the world in shallow open coastal waters, extending to both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. Kelp forests grow remarkably fast, up to 30cm per day. The Aleutian Islands of Alaska is a notable area where there is a kelp forest. Kelp forests in the eastern and northern Pacific commonly have complex three-dimensional structure, with many coexisting species.

Foood Weeeb:

Sea otters exert strong control on kelp forest food webs. By feeding upon sea urchins, otters reduce the intensity of grazing and allow kelps to develop dense populations. Sea otters bring urchins, abalones, and other benthic animals to the surface and often smash them on their chests with the aid of a rock.

Coral Reef

Coral reefs are warm, clear, shallow ocean habitats. The reef's massive structure is formed by coral polyps, tiny animals that live in colonies; when they die, they leave behind a hard, stony, branching structure made of limestone. There are two types of coral, hard and soft. Brain coral and elkhorn coral are examples of hard coral; sea fingers and sea whips are examples of soft coral. Soft coral is not able to build reefs. There are coral reefs off the eastern coast of Africa, off the southern coast of India, in the Red Sea, and also off the coasts of the northeast and northwest Australia. There are also coral reefs off the coast of Florida, Caribbean, and down to Brazil. The Great Barrier Reef, which is off the northeast coast of Australia, is the largest coral reef in the world. It's over 1,257 miles long.

Foood Weeeb:

1. Producers

2. Lower Level Heterotrophs

3. Higher Level Heterotrophs

4. Scavengers



Many coral reefs are dying. Major threats to coral reefs are water pollution, dredging off the coast, careless collecting of coral specimens, and sedimentation.

Woohoo!

Math. Dang this stuff is frustrating! Especially with people talking...but, I won't complain!

We calculated Species Richness and the Shannon Index on the Maryland Sea Grant Marine Education: Biofilms and Biodiversity site. You can access it at tinyurl.com/diversity33. Go into Lets Calculate Biodiversity, then, calculate the 3 species and 6 species in the examples for the Species Richness and Shannon Indexes.

After, we went outside and went to TOWN on a really awesome "Foood Weeeb."
Yes. I realize both food and web are spelled wrong. It has a purpose people.

I'll link you to my twitter account so you can follow up on the fun junk that we do!

Inaugural Post

Woohoo! Today is our first day of Marine Science Intersession. So, yeah, I plan on using this blog to upload pictures, videos, slideshare links, twitter posts...you name it, it WILL be on here. Since we're going to Pigeon Key Wednesday May 25 - most of my posts will be from my twitter feed since you can't do a blog post from your iPhone.

*shakes my fist angrily*

Well, anyway. Time for the first post!