Holoplankton Flashcards
1
Q
Pelagic environment- the open ocean
A
3 dimensional environment, no place to hide
food- mostly near top, mostly small, rare + unpredictable availability
2
Q
meroplankton (define/ members)
- define
- members
A
an organism that is planktonic for part of it’s life
- crustaceans
- cnidarians
- ctenophores
- mollusks
- chaetognaths (arrow worms)
- some thaliacea,
- larvaceans
3
Q
Adaptations: buoyancy (5)
A
- high water content
- adjustable neutral buoyancy: air compartments (nautiloids), lipids or ion replacement
- hovering- swim just faster than you sink OR ‘hop and sink’
- sit on upwellings
- reduction/loss of skeletal structures
4
Q
Adaptations: avoiding predators
- crypsis (5)
- distraction/predator confusion
- defense
- escape
A
- transparency
- reflection
- bioluminescenece- counter illum.
- color
- Diel vertical migration- eat at night, hide in depths during day
- biolum. bomb
- morphology
- quickness
5
Q
Adaptations: eating
A
- filter large volumes of water
- expansive tentacles
- lures
6
Q
Adaptations: reproductive
A
- alternation of generations- sexual + asexual phases
- paedogenesis- sexual maturity of larvae and juvenilles
- rapid reproduction and growth
