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Marine Biology > Study Guide for Module 12 > Flashcards

Study Guide for Module 12 Flashcards

1
Q

Benthos

A

Marine organisms that live on the sea bottom

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2
Q

Nekton

A

Marine organisms that swim strongly enough to move against the ocean current

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3
Q

Plankton

A

Marine organisms that cannot swim strongly enough to move against the ocean current

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4
Q

Meiofauna

A

Microscopic invertebrates living within the interstitial spaces of aquatic soil

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5
Q

Sand dollar

A

Benthos

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6
Q

Larval fish

A

Plankton

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7
Q

Shark

A

Nekton

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8
Q

Jellyfish

A

Plankton

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9
Q

Crab

A

Benthos

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10
Q

Why is the continental shelf also called “subtidal”?

A

It stays underwater regardless of the tides

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11
Q

How does wave action determine the types of substrate particles present in a shelf environment?

A

Heavey wave action washes away fine particles and leaves mainly sand. Areas without much wave action, or those protected from it, have fine sediments

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12
Q

What are the 3 types of organisms that make up benthos?

A

Infauanal organisms, epifaunal organisms, meiofaunal organisms

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13
Q

Which type of soft substrate contains little oxygen and lots of organic matter?

A

A muddy bottom substrate

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14
Q

Which type of community has a larger number of species living in it: a soft-bottom estuary or a soft bottom shelf community?

A

Soft-bottom self communities

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15
Q

Are the infauna evenly distributed throughout the substrate in a soft-bottom subtidal community?

A

The infauna are not evenly spaced in the substrate of soft-bottom salt communities

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16
Q

What is the major food source of the unvegetated soft-bottom self communities?

A

Detritus

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17
Q

What does scuba stand for?

A

Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

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18
Q

You are studying a shelf community with a snandy-bottom substrate. What type of feeding mechanism would you expect most of the organisms living there to use?

A

Most organisms in a sandy bottom shelf community will use suspension feeding

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19
Q

What makes meiofauna different from the infauna in a substrate?

A

Meiofauna are small enough to fit between the individual particles of the substrate

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20
Q

A student tells you he observed a soft-bottom community in which suspension feeders and deposit feeders were roughly equal in number and lived in close proximity to one another. Why should you be skeptical of this student’s report?

A

Suspension feeders do not live near deposit feeders because deposit feeders churn through the sediment looking for food. It’s also rare to find them in equal numbers

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21
Q

What kind of seagrass do you typically find in the tropics? What kind do you typically find in temperature regions?

A

In the tropics, turtle grass is most commonly found, while in temperature areas eelgrass is more common

22
Q

Seagrasses do not provide much live plant food to organisms living in the community. How does their tremendous primary productivity get into the food chain, and what other benefits do they provide for their community?

A

Many organisms feed on the decaying seagrasses, Seagrasses roots aid in keeping soft substrate more stable, seagrass blades provide shelter for many creatures, and the blades are locations on which algae and organisms directly dwell

23
Q

Name at least 2 organisms that feed directly on live seagrasses

A

Manatees, nudibranchs, sea urchins, sea turtles, and a few species of bird, like Canadian geese

24
Q

What type of organisms dominates the hard bottom shelf communities: infauna or epifauna? Why?

A

Epifauna, this is because there is little soft substrate into which infauna can bury

25
Q

Why are seaweeds so common in hard-bottom shelf communities and not in soft-bottom shelf communities?

A

Seaweeds need a hard surface onto which they can hold because they do not have roots that can anchor them to a soft substrate

26
Q

What factors keep most animals from grazing on seaweed?

A

Having special chemicals that give them a bad flavor, some are leather-like, and others incorporate calcium carbonate into their tissues to give them a hard-shelled outer surface

27
Q

What are some of the environmental requirements necessary for kelp growth?

A

Sunlight; a hard substrate on which to attach; and cold, nutrient-rich water in order to grow

28
Q

What is the difference between a kelp bed and a kelp forest?

A

A Kelp bed has kelp that is not tall enough to reach the surface of the water. While kelp forest is composed of kelp that grows all the way to the surface forming a canopy of the surface

29
Q

Which has more chromosomes, the cells of the gametophyte generation of kelp or the cells of the sporophyte generation of kelp?

A

The cells of the sporophyte generations

30
Q

A professor tells you that you are looking at full-grown giant kelp. However, you are looking at it with a microscope, and you can see the entire organism. How can the professor be correct?

A

You are looking at an individual from the gametophyte generation of giant kelp

31
Q

Brittle Starfish

A

Holdfasts and kelp

32
Q

Octopuses

A

Substrate between kelp

33
Q

Fishes

A

Up in the water column on the blades of kelp

34
Q

Small sessile suspension feeders

A

Directly on the kelp strips and blades

35
Q

Explain why, during a sea urchin explosion, kelp plants are so easily killed off yet are rarely completely eaten

A

During a sea-urchin population explosion, there is not enough drift kelp on which to feed. So sea urchins crawl along the bottom and eat holdfasts of the kelp

36
Q

What are benthos organisms? Give an example

A

Benthos - marine organisms that live on the sea bottom (star fish, sea urchin)

37
Q

What are Nekton organisms? Give an example

A

Nekton - Marine organisms that swim strongly enough to move against the ocean current (Tuna)

38
Q

What are Plankton organisms? Give an example

A

Plankton - Marine organisms that cannot swim strongly enough to move against the ocean current (planula larvae, jellyfish)

39
Q

What determines the size of the particle in the substrate of a shelf community?

A

Wave action

40
Q

What is meiofauna?

A

Meiofauna are microscopic organisms that live between the sediment particles

41
Q

What is infauna?

A

Infauna are organisms that burrow into the substrate

42
Q

What is epifauna?

A

Epifauna are organisms that live on top of the substrate

43
Q

What type of infauna live in sandy substrates

A

Filter feeders

44
Q

What types of infauna live in muddy substrates?

A

Deposit feeders

45
Q

Why do deposit feeders and filter feeders generally not live together?

A

Deposit feeders stir up the sediment which can clog the filter of filter feeders

46
Q

What provides the primary productivity of the vegetated soft-bottom community?

A

Seagrasses

47
Q

What are all the methods that the kelp plant has at its disposal to avoid getting eaten

A
  • Thick leathery leaves
  • A chemical that makes them taste bad
  • Some incorporate calcium carbonate into their tissues that give them a hard shell surface
48
Q

What are 3 conditions necessary for kelp growth?

A
  • Coldwater, nutrient-rich water
  • Hard substrate
  • Sunlight
49
Q

How does a kelp bed become a kelp forest?

A

The kelp will grow long enough to reach the surface and float, creating a canopy in the way that a rain forest does

50
Q

Sea urchins prefer to eat the floating kelp blades that have come loose from the kelp. If they are not able to find that, what else will they eat?

A

As they crawl along the bottom they will encounter the holdfast of other kelp and will eat that

Marine Biology (1 decks)

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