3 domains
bacteria: simple life forms w/o nuclei
archaea: simple microscopic creatures
eukarya: complex multicellular
6 kingdoms
archaebacteria
eubacteria
protista
fungi
plantae
animalia
eubacteria
simplest organisms, single celled, no nuclei, cyanobacteria
archaebacteria
microscopic, bacterialike, includes methane producers and sulfur oxidizers of deep sea vents. most ancient life forms on earth
plantae
multicellular photosynthetic plants
surf, grass, eelgrass
animalia
multicellular animals, range from simple sponges to complex vertebrates
protista
single multicellular nucleus (algae, protozoa)
fungi
mold, lichen
carolus linnaeus
1758 came up with taxonomy, modern systematic classification
taxonomy
kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
classification of marine organisms
plankton: floaters
nekton: swimmers
benthos: bottom dwellers
types of plankton
phytoplankton: autotrophic, can photosynthesize own food
zooplankton: heterotrophic, relies on food produced by others
bacterioplankton: very small, half of earth’s photosynthetic biomass. likely most abundant photosynthetic organism
meroplankton
part of lives as plankton, juvenile/larval stages
virioplankton
smaller than bacterioplankton
holoplankton
entire lives as plankton
macroplankton
large floaters such as jellyfish or sargassum
picoplankton
very small floaters such as bacterioplankton
nekton
independent swimmers
most adult fish and squid
marine mammals
marine reptiles
benthos
epifauna live on surface floor
infauna live buried in sediments
nektobenthos swim or crawl through water above seafloor
abundant in shallow water, many in perpetual dark, cold, still
hydrothermal vent communities
Abundant and large deep-ocean benthos \n Discovered in 1977 \n Associated with hot vents \n Bacteria-like archaeon produce food using heat and chemicals
how many marine species are there
228,445 out of 1.8 mill species
some not yet identified
2000 new marine and terrestrial discovered every year
more land than marine
what percentage of species is benthic vs pelagic
benthic: 98%
pelagic: 2%
protoplasm
substance of living matter
more than 80% is water
marine mammals don’t risk desiccation
adaptations of marine organisms
physical support (buoyancy)
surface area to volume ratio
streamlining
reproduction: broadcast spawning
why is ocean temp more stable than land
higher heat capacity of h20
ocean warming reduced by evap
solar radiation penetrates deeply into ocean layers
ocean mixing
cold vs warm species
floaters smaller in warm water
more appendages in warm
tropical organisms grow faster, live shorter
more diversity in warm
more biomass in cool, due to upwelling
stenothermal
organisms withstand variation with temp
eurythermal
organisms withstand large variation in temp
coastal waters
stenohaline
organisms withstand small change in salinity
euryhaline
organisms withstand large variation in salinity
salinity adaptations
diffusion, osmosis
isotonic
organism’s body fluid salinity same as ocean
hypertonic
seawater has lower salinity than organism’s fluids
hypotonic
organism’s fluids have lower salinity than ocean
camouflage
through color patterns
countershading
dark on top, light on bottom
DSL
daily migration of marine animals to deeper dark parts of ocean
dense [ ] of organisms creates false bottom recorded on sonar readings
causes increased vertical mixing of ocean waters
crepuscular
An animal that is active during dawn and dusk is called ___________.
disruptive coloration
large bold patterns, contrasting colors make animal blend into background
h2o pressure
increases 1 atm every 10 m or 33 feet
many marine organisms have no inner air pockets
collapsible rib cage
water pressure
fish have swim bladder, can regulate depth
pelagic environment
open sea
divided into biozones:
neritic: from shore seaward, all water <200 m deep
oceanic province: depth increases beyond 200 m
benthic environment
sea floor
subneritic and suboceanic
epipelagic
only zone to support photosynthesis
dissolved O2 decreases around 200 m
mesopelagic
organisms capable of bioluminescence common
contains dissolved oxygen minimum layer (OML)
oceanic province
bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zones
75% of living space in oceanic province
where bioluminescence is common
detritus feeding shrimp
euphotic
surface where light supports photosynthesis
disphotic
small but measurable quantities of light
aphotic
no light
supralittoral
transition from land to sea floor above spring high tide line; spray zone
subneritic
spring high tide shoreline to 200 m about 1/2 continental shelf
littoral
intertidal zone
sublittoral
shallow subtidal zone
bathyal
continental slope
abyssal
more than 80% of benthic environment
hadal
below 6000 m, only deep trenches on continental margins