Plants and Animals of the Ocean

The plants in the ocean are very important to the animals that live on the earth.

PLANKTON AND SEAWEEDS

Plants found in the ocean are very different. They range from huge seaweeds (the kelps) which can grow up to five meters long, to seaweeds that are smaller then the point on a pencil.

Seaweeds are probably the most common form of marine plant life. Many marine animals feed on them and they provide important homes for others.

Animals and plants that live inside the water and are carried by its currents are identified as plankton. Plankton plays a crucial role in the marine lifecycle. Plant plankton (phytoplankton) is eaten by tiny animal plankton (zooplankton), and by other animals then, feed on predators higher up the marine food chain. Plankton also provides food go to very large animals such as basking sharks and some whales. Half of the world’s oxygen is produced by ocean plant life. The most important plants in the ocean are microscopic. The amount of phytoplankton in the water changes its color. For example if the water is a dark green there is a lot of phytoplankton, but if the water is a light blue there is not as much.

Seaweeds are probably the most common form of marine plant life. Many marine animals feed on them and they provide important homes for others. Seaweed gives off minerals that certain animals need to survive.

Seaweed is put into three groups:

1.RED: the red seaweed is the most common amongst the seaweeds.

2.BROWN: the brown seaweed is the second most common of seaweeds.

3.GREEN: the green colored seaweed is the least common.

CORAL

The coral reef, or other types of coral are also very common examples of marine plant life. Coral reefs are with the most diverse and useful communities on Earth. They are found in the balmy, apparent, low waters of tropical oceans universal. Reefs have functions ranging from providing food and refuge to fish and invertebrates to shielding the shore from wearing away. A coral settlement may consist of thousands of polyps. The arrangement of the polyps and the skeleton of the coral is a fairly easy combination. A polyp is made up or two cell layers: the epidermis and the gastrodermis. The non-tissue layer between the gastrodermis and the epidermis is called the mesoglea.

Polyps are typically carnivorous, feeding on small particles floating in the water. Corals reproduce both sexually and asexually. An entire colony many meters in width can start out as a single polyp.

Corals are of two types: perforate and imperforate. Perforate corals have porous skeletons with links between the polyps through the skeleton. Imperforate corals have hard skeletons.

Coral reefs offer habitats for a large mixture of organisms. These organisms rely on corals as a source of food and protection.

Sponges are found inhabiting cavities in the reef. They eliminate small chips of calcium carbonate from corals. Sponges inhabit corals for the purpose of protection from predators.

crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs depend on corals for shelter. Xantid crabs form cavities in the coral. Fish also depend on corals for protection against predators. One such is the parrot fish .

There are many other species of fungi, sponges, sea worms, crustaceans and molluscs that turn off into coral skeletons. Other organisms that occupy the coral reefs include sea urchins, jellyfish, oysters, clams, turtles, and sea anemones.

There are three basic kinds of coral reefs in the Caribbean: fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls. Fringing reefs are coral reefs that grow in low waters and frame the coast closely or are separated from it by a fine stretch of water. Fringing reefs consist of several zones that are characterized by their deepness, the building of the reef, and its plant and animal communities. These regions include the reef crest , the fore reef , and the spur and groove or buttress zone.

Barrier reefs are reefs that are divided from land by a lagoon. These reefs grow parallel to the coast and are large and nonstop. Barrier reefs also include regions of coral formation that include the zones found in fringing reefs along with patch reefs (small reefs), back reefs (the shoreward side of the reef), as well as bank reefs (reefs that occur on deep bottom irregularities). Coral reefs also include reef flats (the are of the reef not exposed), the reef crest, which runs parallel to the coast and is protected from waves, and a coral terrace (a slope of sand with isolated coral peaks). These features are followed by another coral terrace and a upright drop into deeper waters.

The third type of coral reef are atolls. Atolls are annular reefs that grow at or near the surface of the sea when islands that are surrounded by reefs sink. Atolls split a central lagoon and are circular or sub-circular. There are two types of atolls: deepsea atolls that go up from deep sea and those found on the continental shelf. Coral reefs consist of many different species of corals. These corals in order are made up of tiny organisms called polyps. The arrangement of the polyps and the skeleton of the coral is a fairly easy combination. A polyp is made up or two cell layers: the epidermis and the gastrodermis. The non-tissue layer between the gastrodermis and the epidermis is called the mesoglea.

Home

Animals

Animals without backbones (known as invertebrates) are by far the most diverse forms of animal life in the sea, and they include creatures such as sponges, anemones and mussels.

Fish, whales, and other marine animal life which can move independently of the current, are called nekton. There are almost 200 different types of fish around thDOLPHINS…

· Although they live in the ocean they aren’t fish they are mammals. This means they don’t have gills so they need air to breathe.

· Young unlike fish dolphins are born alive. (A fishes young is born in eggs.)

WHALES…

· Whales are classified in 2 main groups, the Baleen whales and Toothed whales.