Microorganisms

Red Knot Residence Hall features suite-style rooms that can accommodate up to 12 students and 2 chaperones per suite. What are the dorms like? Suites include 3 rooms with 4 beds each, and one room with 2 beds. Each suite features 2 bathrooms, each with 2 sinks, 2 toilet stalls, and 2 private showers. The dormitory is heated and air conditioned. Each participant must bring their own bedding and toiletries.

Red Knot Residence Hall features suite-style rooms that can accommodate up to 12 students and 2 chaperones per suite. Suites include 3 rooms with 4 beds each, and one room with 2 beds. Each suite features 2 bathrooms, each with 2 sinks, 2 toilet stalls, and 2 private showers. The dormitory is heated and air conditioned. Each participant must bring their own bedding and toiletries.

Marine Classification Notes

Overview ›250,000 identified marine species Most live in sunlit surface seawater Species success depends on ability to: Find food Avoid predation Reproduce Cope w/ physical barriers to movement

Classification by Habitat & Mobility Plankton - Aquatic organisms w/ limited or no swimming ability. Transported by currents & tides. “planktos” means “drifting.” Nekton - Aquatic organisms that can swim through the water against the currents. Most are vertebrates. Ex. Sharks, squid, etc… Benthic - Aquatic organisms that dwell on the bottom of the ocean or are permanently attached to something. Ex. Mussels, clams, snails Sessile – Organisms that remain attached to a substrate.

Plankton Most biomass on Earth consists of plankton

6/11/ Locations Plankton is found in Pelagic (Open ocean) and Neritic ( Coastal) regions. Plankton can be collected using a plankton net and flow meter. The Fish larvae population is denser in the Pelagic. Zoea crab population is denser in the Neritic.

Plankton: Classification due to life cycle Holoplankton Entire lives as plankton. Meroplankton Part of it’s life as plankton; egg or larval stage of an animal that will become benthic or nektonic.

Plankton Classification due to size Macroplankton Larger animal plankton from 2cm – 20cm in size. Ex – jellyfish or Sargassum Microplankton Smaller animal plankton less than 2 cm in size. Ex – copepods and diatoms

6/11/ Phytoplankton Microscopic plants & bacteria. “Fix” carbon through photosynthesis, making it available for higher trophic levels.

6/11/ Importance of Phytoplankton Phytoplankton is the base of the food chain. Phytoplankton population decline causes zooplankton and apex predators to decline. Phytoplankton Zooplankton Apex Predators

6/11/ phytoplankton Diatoms Cell wall made of silica. Their top section fits over the bottom section like a box. Essential food source for zooplankton and larger organisms such as clams.

6/11/ Dinoflagellates Has two flagella ( whip like organs to move) Prefer warmer water, not all photosynthesize Can be bioluminescent Are Red- Green Christmas colors

6/11/ Ceratium spec. The Phytoplankton Dinoflagellates Asexual reproduction causes blooms are known as Red Tides Some Dinoflagellates produce toxins that accumulate in the food chain and may affect other organisms Many Dinoflagellates are auto- and heterotroph, some are only heterotroph

6/11/ The Phytoplankton Cyanobacteria Usually single-celled, aquatic bacteria. Can fix nitrogen and form a symbiotic relationship with plants.

Zooplankton Microscopic animal plankton. Heterotrophic. Can indicate future fisheries’ health b/c they are a food source for organisms at higher trophic levels, such as finfish.

6/11/ Zooplankton Groups Holoplankton All of life cycle is part of plankton group

6/11/ Copepod Small crustaceans that look like shrimp. Can live in marine or freshwater environments Single eye in the middle of their head and 5 pairs of swimming legs. Migrate to surface at night to feed and toward the deeper waters during the day to avoid predators.

6/11/ Ostracods Lack a defined head and have flattened bodies. They sense their surroundings using sensilla (hair-like appendages)

6/11/ Zooplankton Groups Meroplankton Only part of life cycle is part of plankton group

6/11/ Zoea (crab larva) Prominent compound eyes and a spiny carapace. They are filter feeders and eat other plankton. (An example are blue crab that hatch from eggs as planktonic zoea

6/11/ Nauplius (crustacean larva) They live their adult lives attached to rocks but when barnacles hatch from eggs they hatch as nauplii. They go through several molts before reaching their next larval stage.

6/11/ Fish Larvae Like the Rockfish larva (Morone saxatilis) hatch in freshwater environments and drift downstream in currents to estuarine habitats, like saltmarshes, where they continue to grow and mature.

Nekton Independent swimmers Most adult fish & squid Marine mammals Marine reptiles Fig. 12.3

Benthos Epifaunal live on surface of sea floor. Infaunal live buried in sediments. Nektobenthos swim or crawl through water above seafloor Most abundant in shallower water.