Study Guide 2: Open Ocean, Coral Reefs, and the Abyss

 

Color: Fringing Reefs (continued)

 

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

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

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

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

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

6.       Groupers are common coral reef organisms.

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

 

Issues: Should Legislation Protecting Coral Reefs Be Strengthened?

 

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

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

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

11.   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

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

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

 

Reading: Into the Abyss—Living at Extremes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Project: Mysteries of the Deep

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

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

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

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

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