Marine Biology: Vocab for Exam 3

pelagic

 the open ocean water column, away from the shore and the sea floor

oceanic zone

the region of open sea beyond the edge of the continental shelf, 65% of Earth’s surface

neritic zone

part of the ocean extending from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf, 8% of Earth’s surface

neuston

organisms living in the upper 5cm of the water column

meroplankton

animals that spend part of their life cycle in the plankton (fish and larvae and barnacle larvae)

holozooplankton

animals that spend their entire life cycle in the plankton (copepods and chaetognaths)

nekton

organisms that swim powerfully in the water (adult marine vertebrates, pelagic squid, etc.)

Langmuir circulations

small-scale wind driven currents that appear as parallel wind lanes on the ocean surface [often see rows of seaweed]

• generated by under wind blowing steadily across calm water

• series of counter-rotating cells next to each other

front

narrow boundary or transition zone that separates two distinct water masses with different physical properties

• between fresh and salt water

• between stratified and mixed water

• at continental shelf breaks

• between major current systems

diapause

when zooplankton reduce metabolism and growth to survive unfavorable seasonal conditions like winter or food scarcity

shelf break

where the shelf slopes down to the abyssal plain ⇒ strongly influenced by physical processes (glaciation, waves, currents, fronts, and turbidity)

sessile animal

 an organism that is attached to a surface and moves little or not at all (corals/mussels)

fetch

The uninterrupted distance over which wind blows across the sea surface, determining the size of waves generated

kleptoparasitism

a form of feeding where one animal steals food that has been caught or collected by another animal

phase-shift

A major, often persistent, change in the structure and function of an ecosystem