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16.7: Adaptations to the Marine Environment

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    Adaptations to the Marine Environment

    • Ability to float (Zooplankton – some produce fats or oils to stay afloat)
    • Ability to swim (Nekton – larger fish and marine mammals)

    Propulsion and movement of fish - the body plan of fish reflect adaptations to feeding on prey and fleeing predators.

    Width/Length Ratio

    Tuna - .28
    Dolphin - .25
    Swordfish - .24
    Whale - .21

    Most efficient is about.25, but there is a size-scale factor.
    Ratio produced from natural selection “the fittest survive and produce offspring”

    Swordfish
    Figure 16.42. Swordfish


    Compare with Surfboard Design!

    Type Width Length Ratio Comments
    Short Board 19 ¼" 6’4” 0.25 Small – medium waves
    PT (Ebenizer Townsend, 1798) 19 ¼" 6'7" 0.24 Large waves
    Average Long Board 22" 9'0" 0.20 Like a whale – scale factor
    Average Surf Board 18 ¼" 6’2” 0.25 rapid turns, harder to control

    Kinds of Zooplankton

    Includes organisms described as floaters and drifters. All forms are invertebrates.
    Microscopic Zooplankton     include:
    Radiolarians, Foraminifers, Copepods

    Macroscopic Zooplankton:
    • Krill ( resemble mini shrimp or large copepods, critical in Antarctic food chains)

    Copepods krill
    Figure 16.43. Copepods Figure 16.44. Krill

    Floating Macroscopic Zooplankton include:

    • Portuguese man-of-war (have gas-filled float)
    • Jellyfish (have soft, low-density bodies; there are hundreds of species)

    Many species of portuguese man-of-war and jellyfish can sting or produce potent toxins.

    Portugese man-of-war Jellyfish floating
    Figure 16.45. Portuguese man-of-war Figure 16.46. Jellyfish

    Swimming (Nekton) Organisms

    Includes all fish, squids, sea turtles and sea snakes, and marine mammals.

    • Swim by trapping water and expelling it (squid, octopus)
    • Swim by curving body from front to back (fish, etc.)

    Squid
    Figure 16.47. Squid

    Adaptations for Finding Prey

    • Lungers wait for prey and pounce (grouper).
    • Cruisers actively seek prey (tuna).

    Grouper Bluefin tuna
    Figure 16.48. Groupers are lungers Figure 16.49. Tuna are cruisers

    Adaptations to Avoid Predation
    • Speed
    • Hiding: includes Transparency, Camouflage and Countershading
    • Poison (to touch or eat: examples: sea snakes, blowfish, lion fish)
    • Schooling (safety in numbers, appear as a larger unit, maneuvers confuse predators)

    Lionfish
    Figure 16.50. Lionfish are highly poisonous.
    Video: Schooling anchovies at Scripps Pier (Scripps Institute of Oceanography)

    This page titled 16.7: Adaptations to the Marine Environment was last modified on Mon, 15 Feb 2021 01:59:47 GMT and is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Miracosta Oceanography 101 (Miracosta)) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.