BIO-212 Semester Review

What are the four distinguishing characteristics of chordates

dorsal hollow, nerve chord, gill slits, notohchord, post-anal tail

What is the number to total fish species and what percent are marine

33,000 total species, 58% are marine

What are some adaptations hagfish have to live in the abyssal zone

spines, living in burrows, and slime production as a method of self-defense

What are the main groups of cartilaginous fish?

Sharks, Skates and Rays, Ratfishes

What is the largest group of cartilaginous fish?

Rays and Skates

What is the speed of the fastest shark and what species is it?

Mako Sharks are the fastest shark and can swim 50-60 km/h

What are some of the defense mechanisms rays and skates have?

spines, venom, and electricity

What are the two groups that coelacanths are divided into?

Lobe-finned and Ray-finned

What is the largest sub-group of Coelacanths

ray-finned

What are three characteristics of ray-finned fish

slits, swim bladder, protruding fin, bony operculum

why are colored pigments significant in fish?

colored pigments are located in the chromatophores to indicate to cells different pigment levels

Why are structural colors important in fish

they are created by crystals acting as tiny mirrors in special chromatophore cells

How do bony fish osmoregulate in water?

The blood of bony fish is 14ppt and they lose water via osmosis and drink water to regulate

How do cartilaginous fish osmoregulate in water?

Blood of sharks is 35ppt due to urea

What are three stressors, organisms in the intertidal rocky area face?

light, wave action, and substrata stability

What will littorina cinta species do at low tide

move under rocks and crevices

What is the “power of the sea” in rocky intertidal environments

wave levels/length, calculated mortality, break force and platform area

What types of zonation are discussed in the rocky intertidal area

Vertical zonation and horizontal wave action gradients

What is marine algae

oxygenic photoautotrophic organisms with chlorophyll a

What percentage of diatoms are responsible for primary production

40%

What are the characteristics of phaeocysts

colony forming single celled algae

What are stromalites

Stromalites are symbiotic agal organisms that attach themselves to rocks and other structures

What do stromalites create?

cyanobacterial mats and mucus debris

What are the two alga that could cause sickness in sub-tropical environments

Alexandrium and Gymnodinium

How is an esturary defined

Semi-enclosed coastal area, where river meets the sea

What are the four main geographical classifications for estuaries

tectonic, fjord, drowned river valleys, lagoon bar built

What are the characteristics of a salt wedge in estuarine environments

when river flow is significantly greater, dense saltwater sinks to the bottom causing unmixed conditions

Why are marine invertebrates important to their environments

they are vital to oceanic food-webs, are ecosystem engineers, and can be biological indicators

What are choanocytes and which invertebrate phylum uses them

They are characteristic cells used for feeding and are used by Porifera (sponges)

What are the two different feeding strategies that polychates use

deposit and suspension feeding

What are two main characteristics of the phylum cnidaria

nematocysts and an incomplete digestive system

What are nematocysts

specialized cells found in cnidaria for feeding

What are the 4 main classes for mollusca

gastropoda, bivalvia, cephalopoda, and polyplacophora

What are the two invertebrate groups in the phylum chordata

tunicates and lancelets

What is the range of the continental shelf

150-200 meters

What is a key environmental gradient on the subtidal continental shelf

Light is a key gradiet with hydrodynamics and waves, because they influence the mixing of how light decreases with depth

Where is deposit feeding used

fine particle environments

Where is suspension feeding used

coarse particle environments

What are key characteristics of seagrasses

they live in sedimentary systems and have a leaf, rhizome, and root

What are three ecosystem services that seagrasses provide

carbon sequestration, nutrient filtering, and protecting shorelines/habitats

What are four major threats to seagrasses worldwide

eutrophication, heat wave, invasive species, and urban expansion

What percentage of solar energy is absorbed within the first layer of the ocean

80%

In representation of dissolved oxygen profiles within the pacific and atlantic oceans where is the minimum layer typically visible

500-1000 meters

What is a the photic zone?

the region of an aquatic ecosystem where sunlight penetrates, allowing photosynthesis to occur

What is the limiting nutrient in the photic zone

nitrogen

What is the geography of the arctic

An ocean basin surrounded by a continent

What is the geography of the antarctic

A continent surrounded by an ocean basin

What is a term to describe organisms that are ice-loving

Pago-philic

What is pack ice

Ice in the middle of the ocean

What is fast ice

ice close to the shore

When sea ice extent is low, what type of ice are we talking about

pack ice

Besides iron what is another key element in phytoplankton growth in polar environments

sunlight

What is a Polynya

Open water surrounded by ice

What causes polynyas

Katabatic winds

What is a katabatic wind

a downslope wind caused by the flow of cold, dense air from a higher elevation down a slope due to gravity

In the southern ocean what is considered a keystone species

krill

What is a central forager

An organism that bases it’s foraging in proximity to it’s offspring and doesn’t migrate far from them

What is an example of a central forager

Penguins, because they need krill and fast ice in proximity to raise their young

What is a capital breeder

a capital breeder comes back to the ice with the resources they need and can raise young there

What is an income breeder

an income breeder needs to consistently go out and come back during mating to aquire resources to raise its young

Are eared seals considered true seals

No, they are often categorized as sea lions

Why are polar bears considered indicator species

Because they are dependent on sea ice