Organisms of the Marine Biome

Essential Questions

• What are the types of organisms in each marine life zone?

• How are organisms distributed in the marine biome?

What are the types of organisms in each marine life zone?

Epipelagic

• Zooplankton• Algae• Plants

– Sargassum seaweed • Turtles

• fish such as – Tuna – bigeye, yellowfin,

albacore, northern bluefin– Many sharks– Dolphin fish– Jellyfish– Basking shark – Whale shark– Sprats– Anchovies– Sargassum fish– Great baracuda– Jacks– Swordfish– Ocean sunfish

Northern bluefin tuna

Atlantic herring

Sargassum seaweed

Sargassum fish

Great barracuda accompanied by a school of jacks

ocean sunfish

whale shark

Epipelagiccharacteristics of organisms

• predator fish have a deeply forked tail and a smooth body shaped like a spindle tapered at both ends and countershaded with silvery colours

• visual predators can use their eye sight

Mesopelagic

• Animals such as – Swordfish– Squids– Wolffish– Wolf eels– a few species of cuttlefish– chain catshark– California Headlightfish– Sabertooth fish – Coccorella atrata – Antarctic toothfish – Barreleye– Stoplight loosejaw – Longnose lancetfish

• many bioluminescent organisms live in this zone

• mesopelagic fish make daily vertical migrations, moving at night into the epipelagic zone

• fish have a swimbladder• muscular bodies, ossified

bones, scales, well developed gills and central nervous systems, and large hearts and kidneys

• visual predators with large eyes• lack defensive spines• use colour to camouflage them

California Headlightfish

Coccorella atrata

Antarctic toothfish

Barreleye

Stoplight loosejaw Longnose lancetfish

Bathypelagic organisms

– Frill shark– Sponges– Brachiopods– Sea stars– Echinoids– Anglerfish– Bristlemouth– Fangtooth– Daggertooth– Barracudina

• Organisms such as:– Lanternfish– Marine hatchetfish– Giant squid– smaller squids– Dumbo octopodes– Sperm whales– Viperfish– Ridgehead– Lightfish

Lanternfish

Anglerfish

Bristlemouth

Fangtooth

Flashlight fish

Gulper eel

Flabby whalefish

Bathypelagic characteristics of organisms

• some species do not have eyes

• fish in this zone have become very energy efficient - many have slow metabolic rates to conserve energy

• unspecialized diets, being willing to eat anything that comes along • prefer to sit and wait for food rather than waste energy searching for it

• fish here have weak muscles, soft skin and slimy bodies without scales • fish are small, many about 10 centimetres long, and not many longer than

25 cm • often have extensible, hinged jaws with recurved teeth • gills, kidneys and hearts, and swimbladders are small or missing• most important sensory systems are usually the inner ear, which responds

to sound, and the lateral line, which responds to changes in water pressure• fish are black, or sometimes red

Abyssopelagic

• Organisms such as:– several species of squid– black swallower– tripod fish– deep-sea anglerfish – giant squid – Echinoderms

• basket star• swimming cucumber• sea pig

– marine arthropods • sea spider

• species living at these depths have evolved to be transparent and eyeless

• creatures have underslung jaws

Hadopelagic

• Organisms such as:– Jellyfish

– Viperfish

– Tube worms

– Sea cucumbers

– deep sea angler fish

• creatures have adapted with reduced eyesight, having very large eyes for receiving only bioluminescent flashes

• most of the bottom dwelling creatures lack any pigmentation

Demersal Zone

• Organisms such as:– Giant grenadier – Rattails – Brotulas– Eels– Eelpouts– Hagfishes– Greeneyes– Batfishes– Lumpfishes

• Fish are active and relatively abundant

• Fish are muscular with well developed organs

• Photophores are usually absent

• Eyes and swimbladders range from absent to well developed

• Fish are usually long and narrow

Giant grenadier

Benthic Zone• can be divided into

– Flabby body types• they have a reduced

body mass• low metabolic rates

– Robust body types• are muscular

swimmers that actively cruise the bottom

• blind

• Organisms such as:– Cusk-eel– Orange roughy – Patagonian toothfish– Pacific hagfish – Blotched fantail ray– Tripod fish

Orange roughy

Patagonian toothfish

Pacific hagfish

Tripod fish

Blotched fantail ray

One Ocean:Birth of an Ocean – Chp 2

• http://oneocean.cbc.ca/series/episodes/1-birth-of-an-ocean?auto_load_clip=1431659624

• Question Sheet provided

• 17mins

How are organisms distributed in the ocean?