Readings: Ch. 15, pgs. 406-423, (Ch 15, pgs. 355-368).
This is a text version of the notes presented in class.
Feel free to email the instructor (knamjesn@kent.edu) with any
comments about the format and ease of use of these online notes.
1.Spineless Wonders - Marine Invertebrates
2. The Diversity of Marine Animals
All major animal groups are found in the sea
1/3 of Earth's animal groups are exclusively marine
Marine animals
- span a broad range of complexity
- have evolved diverse strategies for succeeding in the ocean
3. Types of Marine Animals
Invertebrates
- soft-bodied
- lack a rigid internal skeleton
Chordates
- stiffened notochord
- transitional between invertebrates and vertebrates
Vertebrates
- fully functional backbone
4. Examples of Marine Animals
Invertebrates:
- sponges
- coral, jellyfish, anemones
SIMPLE
- worms
- mollusks (e.g., snails, clams, oysters)
- arthropods (e.g., crabs, shrimp, copepods)
- echinoderms (e.g., sea stars, urchins)
Invertebrate Chordates:
- sea squirts (tunicates)
- salps
Vertebrates:
- fish
- reptiles (e.g., sea snakes, turtles)
- birds
MORE COMPLEX
- mammals (e.g., whales, sea lions, otters)
5. Sponges - The Most Primitive True Animals
Suspension feeders -no circulatory or digestive system
Widely distributed
Graphics: Garrison, Fig. 15.3, pg. 410, (pg. 358).
6. Cnidaria - Carnivorous Stinging Animals
Jellyfish, anemones, corals
- Stinging cells (cnidoblasts) shoot upward from tentacles penetrate,
entangle or disable prey
-Two forms medusa (jellyfish) and polyp (anemones)
Garrison, Fig. 15.4 & Fig. 15.5, pg 411 (358-359).
7. Cnidarian Body Systems
Simple anatomical systems
- food is drawn through the mouth into a digestive cavity
- no distinct "head"
- no circulatory, respiratory or excretory systems
Garrison: Fig.15.6, pg. 412, (Fig. 15.6, pg. 360)
8. Worms - Transition to Advanced Animals (see graphical version of
notes for accurate reproduction
of this table)
Types Features
Flat central nervous system
and eye spots simple
Round flow-through digestive system
Segmented each segment can have its own nervous more complex
circulatory, muscular, etc
systems
9. Mollusks
Gastropods - snails, nudibranchs
Bivalves - clams, oysters, mussels
Cephalopods - octopus, squid
Most have a foot and a shell
Graphics: Garrison, Fig. 15.10, pg 416 (Fig. 15.10, pg. 363).
10. Arthropods - Marine Animals by the Billions
Characteristics:
- exoskeleton
- striated muscle
- articulated movement
Crustaceans:
- most successful class of marine animals
- essential food source for many fish and whales
11. Abyssal Giants
Most deep-dwelling animals are small, but some mollusks and arthropods
are not
Best known - the giant squid of seafaring legends (and reality)
Gigantism may offer specific advantages in the deep sea
12. Echinoderms
- Sea stars, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, sea cucumbers
- 5-section radial symmetry
- Lack eyes and brains (but makes up for it in guts...)
13. Invertebrate Cordates - Casting a Net
Tunicates (sea squirts) and salps:
- suspension feeders with two body openings
- lose notochrord as they develop
- solitary or colonial
- free swimming or attached
Amphioxus
- transitional to vertebrate fish
Graphic: Garrison, Fig. 15.21, pg 422 (Fig. 15.21, pg. 368).
14. Anatomical Comparison - Sponges and Chordates
Even though tunicates and sponges look similar, tunicates have much
more advanced digestive systems
Graphics: Garrison, Figs. 15.3b, pg 410 and 15.21a pg 422 (Figs.
15.3b, pg 358 and 15.21a pg 368).
15. Most of the Zooplankton are crustaceans!
Plankton = drifting or weakly swimming organism
Zooplankton = animal members of the plankton classification
Many zooplankton are primary consumers
Examples: copepods, jellyfish, juvenile crabs
16. Coral Reefs – the rainforests of the sea
•- Largest animal-built structures on Earth (Great Barrier Reef = 2500
km long)
•- Composed of coral animal skeletons
•- Accumulation of skeletons gradually forms the reef
•- Found in brightly lit water (5-10m)
•- Reefs grow slowly (1-10 cm/yr) and are sensitive to changes in sea
level and temperature
17. •Coral reefs form in clear, shallow water
•Coral accounts for only about half of reef biomass
•- Competition for space and food is intense
•- Biomass is rapidly recycled
18. Coral reefs are diverse marine communities sustained by invertebrates
and home to many vertebrates.
Important economic notes about coral reefs (from NOAA):
a. about 50% of U.S. fisheries depend on coral reefs for part of the
fish life cycle
b. new drugs to fight diseases have been developed from coral reef
organisms by the pharmaceutical industries
c.-about 25% of the food catch in developing countries comes from reefs
d. they are a major source of income through tourism
19. Coral Reef Communities have Global Distribution in Tropical Oceans
Limited by Surface Water Temperature
No Reefs in Sea Water Colder than 18C = 65 F
Optimum Temperature Range 23 – 25 C = 74-77 F
20. Symbiosis! Critical in the Reef community, and key to
high Biodiversity
Mutualism: algae and corals work together and both benefit.
Algae inside each coral polyp provide oxygen to the coral
Coral provides carbon dioxide and fertlizer (waste)
Result: corals have access to more oxygen, can make the
BIG calcium carbonate structures we see as coral reefs.
21. Coral Bleaching-When the algae inside corals is expelled…
When the algae leave the corals, coral bleaching occurs
If the algae can re-enter the coral communities within a short
period of time, coral health is okay
If the algae do not re-enter the coral structure, the corals
die.
Corals have a bleached white look to them when this happens
22. Why bleaching?
Believed to be linked to unusually warm temperatures. When water temperature
climbs more
than 1 degree above maximum values for a region, and holds for a week,
bleaching can begin.
NOAA has a satellite to monitor this. A coral bleaching
index has been developed,
and 24 major reefs around the world are monitored for bleaching using
the satellite.
23. Next Lecture: Sustainable Marine Fisheries?
Focus Question: Where have all the fish gone?
Readings: Ch. 17, pgs 485-504, Ch. 15, pgs. 423-435, Ch. 14, pgs. 391-397,
Ch. 9, pgs. 245-246
Ch 17, pgs 421-436, Ch. 15, pgs. 368-380, Ch. 14, pgs. 342-344, Ch. 9, pgs 212-214
Exam 3 on Monday, November 19th
Covering Lectures 15-21 (Coastlines and Beaches through today’s lecture)
Style: Multiple Choice & Matching
Number of Questions: Between 45 and 50
Approximately 95% from lecture material
Approximately 5% from readings not covered in lecture
How much does this count? Each of your best 2 exam scores (best 2 of 3) will
count towards 30% of your final grade.
You will need to turn in both your scantron answer sheet AND your test to get
credit on the exam.
BRING A PENCIL AND AN ERASER!