Marine Ecosystem Features
The term for all the living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) factors in a specific ocean area working together to support life.
What is a marine ecosystem?
An organism that drifts with ocean currents, forming the base of the marine food chain.
What is plankton?
Marine animals that are strong enough to swim independently of ocean currents.
What is nekton?
This term refers to all organisms that live at the bottom of a body of water, from shallow shores to deep ocean floor.
What is benthos?
This is the term for a relationship in which two species live closely together in association.
What is symbiosis?
A feature of the ocean that decreases with depth and affects which organisms can survive in certain zones.
What is light penetration?
The two main types of plankton, with one being plant-like and the other animal-like.
What are phytoplankton and zooplankton?
These nektonic animals are known for their streamlined bodies, which help them move efficiently through the water.
What is fish?
These benthic organisms live near the seafloor but are not attached to it, and include crabs, lobsters, and some anglerfish.
What is hyperbenthos?
This type of symbiosis benefits both species, like the relationship between clownfish and sea anemones.
What is mutualism?
A coastal ecosystem is a nutrient-rich area where freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the ocean.
What is an estuary?
Phytoplankton are similar to plants on land because they contain a pigment that allows them to use sunlight for energy.
What is chlorophyll?
This group of fish includes species with lightweight skeletons made of bone and are found in almost marine environments, from tide to pools to deep-sea trenches.
What is bony fish?
These benthic organisms, like mussels, help clean water by filtering pollutants and waste from their surroundings.
What are filter feeders?
In this symbiotic relationship, one species benefits while the other is neither helped nor harmed, like remoras hitching a ride on sharks.
What is commensalism?
The pelagic zone, located below the epipelagic, known as the 'twilight zone' due to limited light.
What is the mesopelagic zone?
A type of plankton that includes organisms that are heterotrophic and often vertically migrate to stay within a preferred light level.
What is zooplankton?
This adaptation allows nekton, like fish and marine mammals, to survive in the high-pressure environments of deep oceans.
What is a body with high water content, maintaining internal pressure equal to external pressure, and the lack of compressible organs like lungs and ear canals in marine mammals?
Scientists study these organisms to assess water quality because, unlike fish, they are less mobile and remain exposed to pollution and sedimentation effects.
What are benthic indicator species?
This parasitic marine isopod is known to replace the tongue of its fish host, living in its place and feeding on its blood.
What is the tongue-eating louse?
A type of benthic organisms include species like crabs, lobsters, and shrimp, known for their exoskeletons.
What is crustaceans?
A type of plankton spends only part of its life as plankton before maturing into nekton or benthic organisms, like shrimp larvae.
What is meroplankton?
This type of fish lacks paired fins and scales, has a round muscular mouth with rows of teeth, and is considered one of the most primitive fish alive today.
What are jawless fish?
Organisms like corals and sponges attach themselves to rocks or shells on the seafloor, while others, like clams and garden eels, adapt to life within the sediment. Name these two types of benthos.
What are epibenthos and endobenthos?
These two ecological interactions can affect species populations when they rely on the same food sources or engage in predator-prey dynamics, as seen with sharks, dolphins and seabirds that eat the same fish.
What are competition and predation?