Chapter 12:

Marine Life and

the Marine
Environment
Classification of Life

• Classification based on physical characteristics

• D N A sequencing allows genetic comparison.
• Living and nonliving things made of atoms
• Life consumes energy from environment.
• NASA’s definition encompasses potential for
extraterrestrial life.
• Working definition of life
• Living things can:
• Capture, store, and transmit energy
• Reproduce
• Adapt to environment
• Change over time
Three Domains of Life

• Bacteria—simple life forms without nuclei

• Archaea—simple, microscopic creatures
• Eukarya—complex, multicellular organisms
• Plants and animals
• D N A in discrete nucleus
Classification of Living
Organisms

• Six kingdoms
• Archaebacteria
• Eubacteria
• Protista
• Fungi
• Plantae
• Animalia
Six Kingdoms of
Organisms

• Eubacteria
• Simplest organisms
• Single celled lacking nuclei
• Includes cyanobacteria
• Archaebacteria
• Microscopic, bacteria-like
• Includes methane producers and sulfur
oxidizers of deep-sea vents
• Most ancient life forms on Earth
Six Kingdoms of Organisms

• Plantae
• Multicelled photosynthetic plants
• Surf grass, eelgrass, mangrove, and marsh grasses
• Animalia
• Multicelled animals
• Range from simple sponges to complex vertebrates
Six Kingdoms of Organisms

• Protista
• Singlecelled and multicelled with nucleus
• Algae and protozoa
• Fungi
• Mold and lichen
Taxonomic
Classification

• Carolus Linnaeus—1758
• Developed basis of modern
classification of organisms
• Taxonomy—systematic classification
of organisms
• Physical characteristics
• Genetic information
Taxonomy

• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species
• Fundamental unit
• Population of genetically similar, interbreeding individuals
SmartTable 12.1 Taxonomic
classification of selected organisms

Category Human Common Killer whale Bat star Giant kelp

dolphin
Kingdom Animalia Animalia Animalia Animalia Protista
Phylum Chordata Chordata Chordata Echinodermata Phaeophyta
Subphylum Vertebrata Vertebrata Vertebrata Blank Blank

Taxonomic
Class Mammalia Mammalia Mammalia Asteroidea Phaeophycae
Order Primates Cetacea Cetacea Valvatida Laminariales
Family Hominidae Delphinidae Delphinidae Oreasteridae Lessoniaceae

Classification Genus
Species
Homo
sapiens
Delphinus
delphis
Orcinus
orca
Asterina
miniata
Macrocystis
Pyrifera
Classification of Marine
Organisms

• Plankton (floaters)
• Nekton (swimmers)
• Benthos (bottom dwellers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cguoY4qTXA
Types of Plankton

• Most biomass on Earth consists of plankton.

• Phytoplankton
• Autotrophic—can photosynthesize and produce
own food
• Zooplankton
• Heterotrophic—relies on food produced by
others
Other Types of Plankton

• Bacterioplankton
• Very small
• At least half the ocean’s photosynthetic biomass
• Likely most abundant photosynthetic organism
• Virioplankton
• Smaller than bacterioplankton
• Not well understood; may limit abundance of other plankton through infection
• Holoplankton
• Entire lives as plankton
Other Types of Plankton

• Meroplankton
• Part of lives as plankton
• Juvenile or larval stages
Other Types of Plankton

• Macroplankton
• Large floaters such as jellyfish or Sargassum
• Picoplankton
• Very small floaters such as bacterioplankton
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQ_fO2D7f0
Nekton

• Independent swimmers
• Most adult fish and squid
• Marine mammals
• Marine reptiles
Nekton
Benthos—Bottom Dwellers

• Epifauna live on the surface of the sea floor.

• Infauna live buried in sediments.
• Nektobenthos swim or crawl through water above the seafloor.
• Benthos are the most abundant in shallower water.
• Many live in perpetual darkness, coldness, and stillness.
Benthos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A23wI4lvCgY
Hydrothermal Vent Communities

• Abundant and large deep-ocean benthos

• Discovered in 1977
• Associated with hot vents
• Bacteria-like archaeon produce food using heat and chemicals.
Number of Marine Species

• Total cataloged species on Earth about 1.8 million

• Number constantly increasing
• Many marine species not yet identified due to exploration difficulties
• As many as 2000 new marine and terrestrial species discovered each year
Number of Marine Species

• More land species than marine species

• Ocean has relatively uniform conditions
• Less adaptation required, less speciation
• Marine species overwhelmingly benthic (98%) rather than pelagic (2%)
• Benthic environment has more habitats to which organisms can adapt and evolve.
Number of Marine
Species

• Census of Marine Life (C o M L) —$650

million 10 year program completed in
2010
• Discovered at least 1200 new marine
species including yeti crab
• Assessed diversity, distribution, and
abundance of marine organisms
Number of Marine
Species

• World Register of Marine Species:

Currently 228,445 documented
marine species
• Only about 13% of all known
species on Earth
 • Why so few marine species?
• Marine environment more stable than
terrestrial
Number of • Marine conditions more uniform

Marine Species • Marine animals have little selective

pressure to adapt.
• Ocean organisms less able to withstand
environmental changes
Adaptations
of Marine
Organisms

• Protoplasm—substance of living matter

• More than 80% of mass is water.
• Marine animals do not risk desiccation.
 • Physical support

Adaptations of • Buoyancy
• How to resist sinking

Marine • Different support structures in cold (fewer)

rather than warm (more appendages)

Organisms
seawater
• Changes in water viscosity with
temperature
• Smaller size
 Water
Temperature
and
Appendages
 • High surface area to volume ratio
Adaptations of Marine • Cube a—greater resistance to sinking per unit of mass than cube c
Organisms • Phytoplankton benefit from being small.
Adaptations of Marine
Organisms

• Unusual appendages to increase surface

area
• Oil in microorganisms to increase
buoyancy
Viscosity and • Streamlining important for larger organisms

Streamlining
• Shape offers least resistance to fluid flow
• Flattened body

Adaptations • Tapering back end

Viscosity and
Streamlining
Adaptations
 • Broadcast spawning—eggs and sperm directly

Reproduction released into seawater

• Marine organisms take advantage of water’s high
viscosity to enhance reproduction chances.
Temperature • Narrow range of temperature in oceans

and Marine • Smaller variations (daily, seasonally, and

annually)

Life • Deep ocean is nearly isothermal.

Comparison of
Ocean and
Land
Temperatures
 • More stable than land for four reasons

Ocean • Higher heat capacity of water

• Ocean warming reduced by evaporation

Temperature • Solar radiation penetrates deeply into

ocean layers.
• Ocean mixing
 • Floating organisms smaller in warmer
Cold versus seawater
• More appendages in warmer seawater

Warm Water • Tropical organisms grow faster, live shorter,

and reproduce more often.

Species • More species in warmer seawater

• More biomass in cooler seawater (upwelling)
 • Stenothermal

Temperature • Organisms withstand small variation in

temperature.

and Marine • Typically live in open ocean

• Eurythermal

Organisms • Organisms withstand large variation in

temperature.
• Typically live in coastal waters
 • Stenohaline

Salinity and • Organisms withstand only small variation

in salinity.
• Typically live in open ocean
Marine • Euryhaline
• Organisms withstand large variation in
Organisms salinity.
• Typically live in coastal waters, for
example, estuaries
 • Extracting minerals from seawater
• High concentration to low concentration
Salinity Adaptations • Diffusion
• Cell membrane permeable to nutrients, for example
• Waste passes from cell to ocean
Diffusion
 • Water molecules move from less concentrated to
more concentrated solutions.
Osmosis • Osmotic pressure
• In more concentrated solutions
• Prevents passage of water molecules
 • Isotonic—organism’s body fluid salinity same
as ocean

Osmosis • Hypertonic—seawater has lower salinity than

organism’s fluids
• Hypotonic—organism’s fluids have lower
salinity than ocean
Osmosis
Marine versus
Freshwater
Fish
 • Animals extract dissolved oxygen (O2) from
seawater through gills.
Dissolved • Gills exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide
directly with seawater.

Gases • Low marine oxygen levels can kill fish.

• Gill structure and location varies among
animals.
Gills on Fish
Water’s Transparency

• Many marine organisms see well.

• Some marine organisms are nearly
transparent.
• Elude predators
• Stalk prey
Adaptations
to Marine • Camouflage through color patterns
• Countershading—dark on top, light on bottom

Environment
 Camouflage
and
Countershading
Deep • Daily migration of many marine organisms to
deeper, darker parts of ocean

Scattering • Dense concentration of organisms creates

“false bottom” recorded on sonar readings.

Layer (D S L) • Causes increased vertical mixing of ocean

waters
Deep • Daily movement protects some species from
predators.

Scattering • Predators may be daytime, crepuscular, or

night feeders.

Layer (D S L) • Organisms in D S L come to surface only at

night.
 Deep
Scattering
Layer (D S L)
Disruptive
Coloration
Large, bold patterns, and
contrasting colors make animal
blend into background.
Water Pressure
• Increases about 1 atmosphere (1 kg/cm2 ) with every 10
meters (33 feet) deeper
• Many marine organisms—no inner air pockets
• Collapsible rib cage (e.g., sperm whale)
 Water Pressure

• Many fish have swim

bladder.
• Adjusts buoyancy and
allows fish to regulate
depth
Divisions of • Pelagic (open sea)

the Marine • Neritic (< 200 meters) and oceanic

• Benthic (sea floor)

Environment • Subneritic and suboceanic

 • Divided into biozones
Pelagic • Neritic Province—from shore seaward, all
water < 200 meters deep
Environment • Oceanic Province—depth increases beyond
200 meters
Pelagic
Environment
 • Epipelagic
• Only zone to support photosynthesis

Oceanic
• Dissolved oxygen decreases around 200
meters
• Mesopelagic
Province • Organisms capable of bioluminescence
common
• Contains dissolved oxygen minimum
layer (O M L)
Oceanic Province

• Bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zones—

75% of living space in oceanic province
• Bioluminescence common in
mesopelagic and deeper
• Ability to biologically produce light
• Detritus feeding shrimp—predators at
depth
Oxygen and
Nutrient
Variation with
Depth
Ocean Zones • Euphotic—surface to where enough light exists to
support photosynthesis
Based on Light • Disphotic—small but measurable quantities of
light
Availability • Aphotic—no light
 • Supralittoral—transition from land to sea
floor above spring high tide line; spray zone
• Subneritic—spring high tide shoreline to 200
meters, about ½ the continental shelf
Benthic • Littoral—intertidal zone
• Sublittoral—shallow subtidal zone
Environments • Inner—extends to depth where
marine algae no longer grow
attached to ocean bottom
• Outer—inner sublittoral to shelf
break or 200 meters
 • Bathyal—continental slope
• Abyssal
Suboceanic • More than 80% of benthic environment
• Animal tracks in abyssal clay
Province • Hadal
• Below 6000 meters
• Only deep trenches on continental margins
Suboceanic
Province