Life in the Oceans pt 1

Richest marine environment

benthic environment, full of sessile filter feeders

Most common marine fertilization

external fertilization

Osmoconformers

body is the same salinity as the seawater, done by algea and most marine invertebrates, cytolysis in fresher and plasmolysis in saltier waters

Cytolysis

bursting/rupturing of a cell due to too much water, causing the cell membrane to break

Plasmolysis

shrinking of a cell due to water loss, when placed in a hypertonic solution (high solute concentration)

Osmoregulators

body less salty than seawater, most fish, marine mammals, and mangrove plants, organs needed for salt excretion (gills, kidneys, salt glands)

Bouyancy

seawater is 800x denser than air to bouyancy aids in floating but counteracting sinking is still difficult

Water is more viscous than air (60x)

organisms are streamlined (fusiform)

seawater conducts sound 4x faster than air

so sound is important for communication

SOFAR

sound fixing and ranging channel, naturally occuring ocean channel that allows sound to carry great distances

seawater conducts electricity better than air

more organisms have sensory adaptation for electrical detection

seawater suspends chemicals in water, they travel great distances

marine organisms have a greater reliance on chemosensory systems (olfaction and gustation)

seawater absorbs more light than air

productivity is mostly near the surface

seawater absorbs a great deal of carbondioxide from the air

organisms can make calcium carbonate skeletons

seawater contains much less oxygen than air

organisms have a high surface area to volume ratio for gas exchange, bigger organisms have specialized organs

Plankton

marine organisms that are unable to propel themselves against the motion of the water

Zooplankton

unicellular or multicellular planktonic heterotrophs, most like animals

Benthos

organisms that live in/on the bottom of the ocean, either sessile or free-living

Demersal

organisms that live near or just above the sea floor

Nekton

marine organisms that actively propel themselves through the water (swim)