oceanography 33
Terms
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- Ctenophores
- 􀀩 Ctenophores, or comb jellies (Phylum Ctenophora) are semitransparent gelatinous animals which are often ovoid or flattened. They move through the water by beating tiny hairs called cilia which run in eight comb-like plates along the length of the animal.
- Finding food in a dilute food environment
- Single celled protozoan with silica skeleton. This lives like a spider in a web, with bacteria buzzing into it. It is about 1 mm across.
- Go hunting
- 􀀩 Run across more food 􀀩 Helps to be able to detect food 􀀩 Fish- have eyes, require light 􀀩 Other animals detect bow waves, scent of swimming prey
- Chaetognaths
- 􀀩 In the world of the plankton, the chaetognaths (arrow-worms) are awesome predators, instantly subduing their prey with slashing venomous bristles, followed by very rapid digestion. Calanoid copepods are a favored prey.
- Finding food in plankton- copepods
- One of the dominant plant eaters, small carnivores in plankton. Antennae are acute detectors of water motion, chemical cues
- Gas Containers
- 􀀩 Animals become neutrally buoyant by changing the amount of air in their bodies, which regulates their density 􀀩 Air pressure in air chamber limits depth organisms can tolerate
- Swim Bladders
- 􀀩 Many marine fish have gas filled organs called swim bladders. These organs control buoyancy and allow the fish to maintain a certain depth in the water column.
- Fish Locomotion
- 􀀩 Basic movement is lateral body curvature from front to back of the fish 􀀩 Myomeres are muscles on the side of the fish that alternatively contract and relax
- Caudal Fins
- 􀀩 Rounded fins are flexible and useful for maneuvering at slow speeds 􀀩 Truncate fins are found on faster fish 􀀩 Lunate fins are rigid, not good for maneuvering, but efficient at propulsion 􀀩 Heterocercal fins are asymmetrical with majority of area on upper fin
- Fish Body Temperature
- 􀀩 Fish are generally poikilothermic whose body temperature comform to water temperatures 􀀩 Homeothermic fish maintain constant body temperature