Marine Science: Test Review

During meiosis I, which structures separate?

Homologous chromosomes

Why can a classification system change as evidence improves?

It is a human model for organizing observations

A whale species produces one calf after lengthy gestation. If adult mortality rises, why might recovery take decades?

Low reproductive output and long generation times

A tuna's swimming muscles produce heat, but its internal temperatures vary across dives. Which classification best matches the slides?

Endothermic and poikilothermic

Two similar-looking organisms have different scientific names. What should you examine next to assess species boundaries?

Relevant reproductive evidence and classification criteria

Which benefit can planktonic larval dispersal provide?

Colonization of distant suitable habitats

A marine mammal conserves heat in a flipper through adjacent outgoing and returning vessels. What principle is involved?

Countercurrent heat exchange

An icefish and penguin inhabit the same polar water. Which claim is best supported?

Identical ambient conditions can coincide with different internal thermal strategies

Which rank lies between phylum and order?

Class

Which process occurs after fertilization to support embryonic growth?

Mitosis

Eggs contain yolk and substantial cytoplasm while sperm are streamlined and motile. Which inference best explains the difference?

The gametes have distinct roles in nourishment and reaching the egg

Why are slow-maturing, low-fecundity sharks especially vulnerable to heavy fishing?

Removed adults are replaced slowly

Why can an abyssal ectotherm have a nearly constant body temperature?

Deep surrounding water remains nearly constant

A thermal refuge remains cool while nearby water warms. What factor matters for a sensitive species?

Whether refuge conditions remain within its physiological tolerance

A drifting larva attaches to reef substrate and changes into an adult. What process is illustrated?

Metamorphosis and benthic settlement

A free-swimming trochophore later attaches and develops adult structures. Which shift occurred?

Pelagic dispersal to benthic settlement and metamorphosis

A tide pool warms quickly while offshore water warms slowly under similar sunlight. Which ocean property explains the offshore buffering?

Water's high heat capacity acting on a large water mass

A cold-adapted enzyme is transferred to increasingly warm water. Which outcome is most defensible?

Activity may increase initially but fall if the protein denatures

What is denaturation in the enzyme context?

Loss of protein shape that can reduce function

An ectotherm obtains most of its body heat from what source?

Its surroundings

A new specimen consumes other organisms and is multicellular. Which kingdom best fits the slide model?

Animalia

An abyssal echinoderm stays near 3°C all year without substantial metabolic heat production. How should its strategy be described?

Ectothermic and homeothermic under stable conditions

An Arctic seal's blubber becomes thinner. Which change most directly increases the energy needed to maintain its core?

Greater heat loss to cold seawater

A species has 18 chromosomes in a gamete. How many are expected in its zygote immediately after fertilization?

36

A sea anemone bud matches the parent's genome closely. Which cellular process chiefly supports the new tissue's growth?

Mitosis

How does blubber help a marine mammal?

It reduces heat loss through insulation

Homologous chromosomes exchange segments before separating. Which outcome follows?

New allele combinations in haploid gametes

A species matures late and has few young. Which pressure is hardest to replace quickly?

Loss of breeding adults

A marine microbe has no membrane-bound nucleus. Under the five-kingdom model on the slides, where is it placed?

Monera

If a specimen is moved to a different family, which broader ranks could still remain unchanged?

Kingdom, phylum, class, and order

Two similar fish populations cannot produce fertile offspring together. Under the biological species concept, they are what?

Distinct species

Before a marine bacterium divides by fission, what must occur?

Its DNA is replicated

Which sequence preserves chromosome count across sexual generations?

Diploid germ cell → haploid gametes → diploid zygote

What supplies stored nourishment in many marine eggs?

Yolk

A population's anatomical similarity to another is strong, but breeding evidence is missing. Which conclusion is most defensible?

The biological species boundary is not yet established

A researcher observes four distinct haploid nuclei after two divisions. Which process occurred?

Meiosis

Which pair addresses two different thermal questions?

Ectothermy describes heat source; homeothermy describes temperature stability

A species releases millions of eggs, matures early, and offers no care. Which prediction best matches its life history?

High offspring mortality with rapid potential replacement

A clonal seagrass meadow thrives for decades, then a new pathogen spreads. Why might the meadow decline rapidly?

Low genetic diversity may leave many shoots susceptible

Which strategy best describes whales producing few offspring with extended care?

K-selected

A benthic organism absorbs nutrients from detritus and has chitinous cell walls. Which kingdom fits?

Fungi

Which cue can help synchronize coral spawning?

Lunar cycles

An emperor penguin and an icefish share cold water. Why can their core temperatures differ?

Their heat production and retention strategies differ

Why do heat-source labels alone not determine an animal’s exact blood temperature?

Actual temperatures also depend on environment and physiology

Which observation best supports treating two populations as one biological species?

They interbreed and produce fertile offspring

Why might three-domain and five-kingdom systems sort the same microbes differently?

They use different classification criteria and evidence

Which statement describes water's high heat capacity?

Ocean water changes temperature relatively slowly when absorbing heat

A plankton cell has a nucleus and photosynthesizes. Which assignment best fits the slide's kingdom model?

Protista because it is a unicellular eukaryote

Why could a clonal reef population be vulnerable to a new disease?

Individuals share similar genetic vulnerabilities

What helps sperm move toward an egg?

Flagellum

What does poikilothermic mean?

Body temperature varies with environmental conditions

Marine bacteria replicate a circular chromosome and form a septum. Which process does this sequence describe?

Prokaryotic fission

Why do broadcast spawners release very large numbers of gametes?

Many gametes and larvae are lost before adulthood

Which finding would most directly challenge a claim that two populations are reproductively isolated?

Repeated natural mating producing fertile offspring

Which structure produces eggs in the slides?

Ovary

What does fecundity refer to in a reproductive comparison?

Reproductive output

After a storm disrupts spawning synchrony, eggs and sperm are released hours apart. What immediate outcome is most likely?

Lower fertilization success as gametes disperse

Which sequence goes from broadest to most specific?

Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

Which male gonad produces sperm?

Testis

Which comparison correctly separates evidence from a classification model?

Observed fertile interbreeding is evidence; the species label is a model-based assignment

How does a hierarchy aid identification of an unknown marine specimen?

It narrows possible groups using increasingly specific shared traits

Which rank is most specific in the hierarchy shown for the triggerfish?

Species

What is broadcast spawning?

Release of eggs and sperm into the water column

A dolphin and reef fish both swim in 20°C seawater. The dolphin remains much warmer. Which explanation best fits?

Metabolic heat and insulation maintain its core temperature

If warmer seawater exceeds a species' enzyme tolerance, which response is most plausible?

Reduced enzyme function despite initially faster reactions

Taxonomy is the science of what?

Describing, naming, and classifying organisms

Why can the term cold-blooded be misleading?

An ectotherm in warm water may have a high body temperature

What is the main energetic trade-off of maintaining a warm core in cold water?

More energy must support heat production and retention

A fish moves to deeper, cooler water during a warm period. Which thermal response is illustrated?

Behavioral use of environmental temperatures

Why is synchronized coral spawning helpful?

It raises the chance that viable eggs and sperm meet

What restores the diploid chromosome number in sexual reproduction?

Fusion of haploid egg and sperm

Which evidence is most relevant to the biological species concept?

Whether offspring of two populations are fertile

Two populations differ in color but regularly mate and have fertile descendants. Which evidence weighs most strongly toward one biological species?

Successful reproduction with fertile descendants

Which adaptation supports icefish in freezing habitats in the slides?

Antifreeze glycoproteins

If germ cells underwent mitosis instead of meiosis before fertilization, what would happen to chromosome count in the next zygote?

It would double relative to the parent's diploid count

A reef becomes unpredictable after repeated warming events. Which population is more likely to contain varied inherited thermal responses?

One formed through sexual reproduction with recombination

A diploid marine animal has 24 chromosomes in a body cell. How many should a normal gamete contain?

12

Which event increases genetic variety during meiosis?

Crossing over between homologous chromosomes

Why is a common name alone unreliable for global identification?

Different places may use the same name for different organisms

What is produced by meiosis as described in the slides?

Four genetically distinct haploid cells

An endotherm relies primarily on what for body heat?

Internal metabolic heat

Why are scientific names useful when a fish and mammal both have “dolphin” in a common name?

They distinguish organisms despite shared common names

If a tuna loses the function of its rete mirabile, what is the most direct expected effect?

Less muscle-generated heat retained in cooler water

A fish's body temperature tracks changes in its surrounding water. What can be concluded from this observation?

It is consistent with ectothermy and poikilothermy

The deep-water temperature around that echinoderm shifts abruptly. Which prediction follows from its heat source?

Its body temperature will likely shift with the water

A field team finds two near-identical fish populations that share a reef but never produce fertile hybrids. Which conclusion follows from the biological species concept?

They are reproductively isolated species

Why does enzyme performance not increase indefinitely as water warms?

Excessive heat can denature proteins

Which kingdom in the slides includes single-celled prokaryotes?

Monera

A survey records Animalia, Chordata, Osteichthyes, Tetraodontiformes, Balistidae, Balistapus, undulatus. Which pair is adjacent in the hierarchy?

Family and genus

What is the function of countercurrent vessels in a tuna?

Retain heat produced by swimming muscles

A dolphin maintains a stable warm core in cold water. Which pairing fits?

Endothermic and homeothermic

Which pair correctly matches a marine organism and kingdom?

Seagrass—Plantae

Which rank lies between order and genus?

Family

What is the second word of a binomial called?

Specific epithet

Gametes each contain 15 chromosomes. What is the normal zygote count?

30

What is the chromosome condition of a gamete?

Haploid, with one set

Which rank contains one or more closely related species?

Genus

When does DNA replication occur in the meiotic sequence described?

Before the first division, without another replication between divisions

A field guide places Balistapus undulatus and another Balistapus species together. What is the narrowest rank they certainly share?

Genus

Why do many ectotherms require less food for heat production than mammals?

They rely more on environmental heat