Study Guide 1: Open Ocean, Coral Reefs, and the Abyss

ANSWERS

 

Color Set: Pelagic Zone

1.       Another name for the open ocean is the pelagic zone.

2.       Neuston float on the surface of the water

3.       Examples of neuston are the by-the-wind-sailor, the Portuguese man-of-war, and the violet snail

4.       Plankton are drifting organisms found in the water column.

5.       Examples of plankton include zooplankton, such as copepods, krill, and the arrow worm.

6.       Nekton are open ocean organisms that can swim in different directions.

7.       Examples of nekton include the blue whale, krill, squid, albacore, and sharks.

8.       Phytoplankton productivity governs the number of organisms that can survive in the pelagic zone.

9.       Flying fish can go airborne, at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.

10.   In flying fish, the pectoral fins act as a “wing”.

11.   A group of herring is called a shoal, and can have over a billion fish.

12.   Canned young herring are called sardines.

13.   The swordfish follows schools of mackerel and herring.

14.   The caudal fin of a swordfish is lunate, or crescent shaped, in order to maximize swimming efficiency.

15.   The sunfish is the heaviest of the bony fish at 4400 pounds.

16.   The sunfish was named for the few atypical individuals who go to the surface, lie on their sides, and appear to “sun themselves.”

17.   The sunfish normally lives quite deep in the ocean’s waters, using the anal and dorsal fins for the swimming thrust.

18.   The albacore is a small tuna, usually around ten pounds in weight.

19.   A unique feature of the albacore among related fish is their long pectoral fins.

20.   The sculpin is a small fish usually found in Pacific coast tidepools.

21.   Sea robins walk along the bottom and feed on crustaceans and mollusks.

22.   The stargazer has a fleshy lure attached to the floor of their large mouths.

23.   The stargazer has poisonous spines just behind the operculum.

 

Reading: California’s Nearshore Waters and Open Ocean

24.   The nearshore waters are above the gently sloping region called the continental shelf.

25.   The open ocean begins where the continental shelf drops off to the deep sea floor.

26.   The fertility of nearshore waters depends upon water circulation for nutrients.

27.   The continental shelf off of California is only about four to five miles wide.

28.   Submarine canyons etch the continental shelf and slope and deliver sediments to the deep sea floor.

29.   The California current carries cold water south.

30.   Upwelling occurs beginning in the month of March due to prevailing westerly winds.

31.   Upwelling delivers organic material up from the ocean floor to the surface.

32.   During the Oceanic Period, the cold upwelling begins to sink due to high surface temperatures.

33.   During the Davidson current, water close to the shore flows north.

34.   A phenomenon known as El Nino will disrupt the normal ocean currents every few years.

35.   Phytoplankton are the basis of almost all ocean food webs

36.   Zooplankton include protozoans, jellyfish, copepods, krill and mollusk and arthropod larvae.

37.   The open ocean is less abundant than the nearshore waters due to the lack of upwelling.

38.   Common plankton feeding fish in the open ocean include herring and anchovies.

39.   Predatory fish found in the open ocean include marlin, tuna, mackerel, and salmon.

 

Color: Fringing Reefs

40.   Temperature of the coral reef water must be between` 20 and 23 degrees C.

41.   The three types of reefs are fringing reefs, barrier reefs and the atoll.

42.   The fringing reef extends from the shore.

43.   Coral are animals that belong to the coelenterate group.

44.   Coral have mutualistic zooxanthellae (single-celled plants) that live within their tissues.

45.   The reefs are made of the chemical calcium carbonate.

46.   Two nocturnal reef fish are the parrotfish and the moray eels.

47.   Large invertebrates that live in the coral reef include feather stars, spiny lobsters, and sea urchins.

48.   The two basic body types of the coelenterate are the polyp and the medusa

49.   The major characteristic of coelenterates is the presence of the stingers called nematocysts.

50.   The sea anemone and the hydroid are two types of polyp coelenterates.

51.   Groupers are common coral reef organisms.

52.   The boxfish’s gold color is an example of warning coloration.

 

Issues: Should Legislation Protecting Coral Reefs Be Strengthened?

 

53.   One of the big environmental problems in the coral reef is bleaching, when the coral lose their colorful algae.

54.   Possible causes of coral reef bleaching are global warming and pollution.

55.   Coral reefs should be conserved because the reef environment supports the fishing and tourist industries of many tropical nations.

56.   Coral reefs should be conserved because coral take carbon dioxide out of the air when they make the calcium carbonate exoskeletons, minimizing global warming.

 

Film: Coral Reefs

57.   In clear deep water some coral can live up to 1000 feet below.  Most live near the surface.

58.   Sharks and unusual ecological partnerships between organisms are signs of a reef’s good health.

 

Reading: Into the Abyss—Living at Extremes

59.   Hydrothermal vents are commonly called “black smokers.”

60.   Some of the more than 300 species of vent life include the blind shrimp, giant white crabs, and tubeworms.

61.   More than 95 percent of vent life species are new to science.

62.   The vent life food web is not dependent on photosynthesis, but chemosynthesis instead.

63.   The hydrogen sulfide that comes from the black smokers is the basic chemical of the whole vent system.

64.   Tubeworms have a symbiotic relationship with the vent bacteria.

65.   Energy comes from the reaction of hydrogen sulfide with the oxygen in the water.

66.   Some vent animals have metal-binding proteins to combat the toxic heavy metals.

67.   Naked snails cannot form their calcium carbonate shells because the water is too acidic.

68.   Vent animals have no air spaces because the tremendous pressure would crush these gaps.

69.   Water at the bottom of the ocean is about 35 degrees F.

70.   The vent fluids can reach a temperature of 750 degrees F.

71.   Vent bacteria can withstand temperatures up to 230 degrees F.

 

Project: Mysteries of the Deep

72.   Yellowfin tuna can swim at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour.

73.   The Pacific viperfish has fanglike teeth and opens its mouth to serve as an unseen trap in the dark.

74.   The hatchetfish has eyes that stare straight up and a mouth that points upward, ready to snap up food.

75.   The Black Swallower can swallow prey twice its size due to its expandable belly.

76.   The anglerfish attacks fish close to her mouth with a lighted fin.