L2 Survival Flashcards
What are the set of problems all animals have to overcome in order to survive?
Acquisition of food and water
Maintenance of water and salt balance
Removal of wastes
Reproduction
What four factors correlate with the body design necessary to overcome survival problems?
Environment
Size of animal
Mode of existence
Constraints of the genome
What percentage of the earth does the ocean cover?
71%
What is the littoral zone?
Area between high and low tide
Why do animals need to evolve especially for the littoral zone?
Have to be able to live both submerged and exposed periodically, as well as changing oxygen levels and temperature often
What is the progression from shore to deep sea?
littoral zone, continental shelf, continental slope, deep sea, trench, abyssal plane
What is the mode of life of an epaulette shark?
Lives on reefs in the littoral zone, so I trapped in pool when the tide goes out. Oxygen levels are lower and temperature is higher. Has evolved walking to move between pool
Describe the continental shelf
150-200m, supports corals in the tropics
Describe the continental slope
steep slope down to bottom of the sea, up to 5000m
Where is the photic zone?
Light reaches down to 200m, organisms here can exist using photosynthesis
What happens as you get deeper in the ocean?
Light and temperature decrease, and pressure increases.
What do deep sea organisms rely in for food?
Marine snow, which is debris from the surface, and predation
How have angler fish adapted to life in the deep sea?
Produces light via bioluminescence, which attracts animals, so they can predate easily
How have harp sponges adapted to life in the deep sea?
Most sponges are filter feeders, but there is little food available and so have evolved to grab prey.
What is the hadlpelagic zone?
up to 11 000m deep in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, although conditions are severe, animals do live here
Define pelagic
Suspended or swimming
Define benthic
bottom dweller
Define errant
mobile
Define sessile
attached
Define sedentary
unattached, immobile
What are the advantages of living in the sea?
Space, high productivity, constant environment, isometric with body tissues, buoyancy, easy fertilisation and developement, waste as ammonia
How does biomass change from the shore to open ocean and why?
decrease, most fish tend to live on the shelf and slope
What is the salinity percentage in the sea?
3.4-3.6%
what are osmoconformers?
marine organisms that maintain an internal environment that is osmotic to their external environment
Which vertebrate species are osmoconformers?
sharks and hagfish
How do freshwater environments differ from marine?
Temp is less stable, oxygen levels vary, osmotic regulation is required
Why are estuaries often very productive?
Lots of input from the land, so very silty
How do smaller animals respire? Where would you find animals like these?
Diffusion of gasses across surface, so no specialised system is required. In damp or aquatic environments as there is increased risk of water loss
What does mode of existence mean?
How animals move around, and how, if it does, move
What are the features of free moving animals
Generally bilaterally symmetrical, have cephalisation,
What are the features of attached/sedentary animals?
generally radially symmetrical, will have an oral/aboral surface
What are the constraints of them genome
Limitations are imposed on the genome by ancestral designs that are controlled by an animals genetic makeup
