Unit 4 Flashcards
Taxonomy
The classification of the species within living organisms by describing the domain, kingdom, phylum, class ,order, family, genus and species.
Binomial Nomenclature
The two-part Latin name given to each species comprising the genus followed by the species.
Producer
Organisms that produce biomass from inorganic compounds; in almost all cases these are photosynthetically active organisms.
Photosynthesis
The process of using light energy to synthesize glucose from carbon dioxide and water to produce chemical energy.
Plankton
1) microscopic free floating marine organisms
2) they are the base of the entire marine food web
3) some convert sunlight into energy with photosynthesis
4) plankton can be plants or animal, bacteria or viruses; they can live in fresh or salt water
5) plankton are not visible to the naked eye but you can tell if there are a lot by how turbid (cloudy) the water is.
Consumer
An animal which feeds on other organisms to gain energy from food.
Echinoderm
A marine invertebrate group with pentaradial symmetry and tube feet.
Crustacean
A marine invertebrate group with a hard exoskeleton, ten jointed legs and a nauplius larval stage.
Bony Fish
Fish that have a bony skeleton and belong to the class Osteichthyes.
Operculum
A thin bony flap of skin covering and protecting the gills.
Gills
The gaseous exchange surfaces of fish.
Swim Bladder
A buoyancy organ found in bony fish.
Cartiliginous Fish
Fish that have jaws and skeletons made only of cartilage and belong to the class Chondrichthyes.
Chordate
Animals that have a backbone.
Macrolaga
Marine producers such as kelp and seaweeds.
Rhizome
A horizontal underground structure that enable seagrasses to reproduce asexually.
Dichotomous Key
A tool used to identify creatures based on physical appearance.
Phytoplankton
Producers that obtain energy through photosynthesis
They drift with currents on the surfaces waters (photic zone) of the oceans.
-responsible for most of the primary production in the marine environment
Zooplankton
consumers that eat producers or other consumers
Provide a critical link in food chain between the primary producers and larger consumers
(larvae, copepods, and jelly fish)
They migrate vertically in the water column each day to feed on phytoplankton in the photic surface layer.
Types of phytoplankton
diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)
Copepods
-Crustaceans
-The most abundant type of zooplankton
-exoskeleton is made of calcium carbonate
