Marine Life: Habitats, Adaptations, and Symbiotic Relationships

Marine Animal Characteristics and Habitats

• Ectothermic Reptiles: Cold-blooded, live in warm tropical waters.
• Carapace Turtles: Upper shell; sea turtles cannot retract into their shells.
• Sea Gulls: Eat anything.
• Penguins: Found in Antarctica.

Tides and Marine Mammals

• Tide Control: Influenced by the moon.
• Carnivora Mammals: Examples include sea otters and polar bears.
• Seals vs. Sea Lions: Sea lions can walk on their back flippers; seals cannot.
• Walrus Food: Mostly invertebrates.
• Pinnipeds: Examples include seals, sea lions, and walruses.

Whales and Other Marine Life

• Tusked Whale: Narwhal.
• Sirenian Ancestors: Manatees (sea cows), related to elephants.
• Dolphins: Are they whales? Yes.
• Blowholes: Toothed whales have one; baleen whales have two.
• Echolocation: Used by whales for precise location.
• Largest Toothed Whale: Sperm whale.

Ecology and Symbiosis

• Population: Group of the same species in the same area.
• Echinoderm Symmetry: Radial symmetry (e.g., starfish).
• Commensal Symbiosis: One benefits, one is unaffected (e.g., shark and remora).
• Mutualism: Both organisms benefit (e.g., coral and algae).
• New and Full Moon: Highest tides occur during these phases.

Ocean Zones and Adaptations

• Benthic: Bottom-dwelling organisms (e.g., crab).
• Regeneration: Ability to regrow limbs (e.g., starfish).
• Estuaries: Coastal areas where fresh and salt water mix.
• Highest Diversity: Coastal waters, especially estuaries.
• Fiddler Crabs: Common in salt marshes (one large claw, one small).
• Kelp: Dominant brown algae.
• Chromatophores: Color-changing cells in cephalopods.
• Sea Bird Characteristics: Salt glands, nest on land, waterproof feathers.
• Intertidal Organisms: Risk of drying out in high temperatures.
• Subduction: Process forming ocean trenches.
• Open Water: Least biodiverse part of the ocean.
• Spreading Centers: Where mid-ocean ridges form.
• Coral Requirements: Shallow, clear, sunlit, warm water.
• Phytoplankton Examples: Diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria, and seaweed.
• Pelagic Zone Adaptations: Countershading, transparency, strong swimmers.
• Aphotic Organisms: Produce their own light (bioluminescence).

Invertebrates

• Cnidaria Symmetry: Radial, like jellyfish.
• Medusa: Body form of the jellyfish.
• Polyp: Body form of the sea anemone.
• Adductor Muscle: Opens and closes bivalve shells (e.g., clam, oyster).
• Mantle: Soft body of a mollusk, produces the shell.
• Internal Shell: In squid and some other cephalopods.
• Mother of Pearl: Inside of mollusk shell.