Chapter 6 Marine Vertebrates Vertebrate features, Marine Fishes and Tetrapods

Vertebrate Features All living vertebrates share similar structural features: Bilateral symmetry A postanal tail An anterior brain Specialized sense organs Centrally located vertebral skeleton for support

Fishes There are more species of fishes than all other vertebrate groups combined, and a majority of these are marine. Classes include: Agnatha (cyclostomata) a primitive fish lacking paired fins and true jaws. Rep: lampreys and hagfishes Chondrichthyes include sharks, rays and skates. They exhibit true jaws, paired fins, and scales but a cartilagenous skeleton. Osteichthyes are the bony fish and have true jaws, paired fins, scales and a bony skeleton

Agnatha (Cyclostomata): lamprey

Agnatha: Hagfish

Chondrichthyes: Shark

Shark egg cases                               

Whale shark egg found

Great White Shark

Bull shark

Whale shark

Chondrichthyes: Sting ray

Chondrichthyes: skate

Skates lay eggs

Male and female chondrichthyes

Osteichthyes: bony fishes

Tetrapods Three classes of air-breathing marine tetrapods – Reptilia, Aves, Mammalia Sea snakes, turtles, the marine iguana, marine crocodiles, and a large number of birds and mammals forage the sea. Reptiles and birds share several adaptations, including nasal salt glands and uric acid excretion. Marine mammals include two groups, the cetaceans (whales, porpoises, dolphins) and the pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses) as well as sea otters, manatees, and dugongs.

Marine Amphibians: Crab-eating frog Amphibians on the whole are intolerant of saline conditions, but the Crab-eating frog is among the very few exceptions. It is found in the brackish-water of mangrove streams and also in adjacent damp, grassy areas.

Marine Reptiles

What can you do to help?

Marine Reptiles

Marine Reptiles

Marine Reptiles: Sea snakes

Marine Aves

Marine Aves

Marine Aves

Marine Aves

Marine Aves

Marine Aves

Marine Aves

Marine Mammals

Marine Mammals

Marine Mammals, Order Pinnepedia Warmer water from this year's El Niño weather pattern has driven away fish and squid the mammals eat to survive, forcing them to leave their island habitats for the mainland to find food. On islands from San Francisco to San Diego, beaches are littered with carcasses of California sea lions and northern fur seals. Sea gulls pick at some bodies. Others lay dying, barely moving.

Plastic pollution and the seal

Killer whale

Sea Lion

Marine Mammals The walrus has the best creature mustache! With as many as 700 hairs packed on their snout, a walrus has a nose for sniffing out food and nuzzle-kissing their friends! They love to sunbathe, and in the cold waters they swim in -- sometimes diving as deep as 300 feet -- a little sun must be nice and warm! Usually timid and shy, but easily provoked, the walrus has two massive tusks which it uses in three ways: to get girls, to get a grip when climbing out of the water onto ice, and to anchor themselves on the ocean bottom while digging for clams. The biggest tusked bull has breeding rights. The walrus dines on clams, snails, mussels, and 40 other kinds of invertebrates all found at the bottom of the sea. Walruses communicate to each other with knocks, bells, clacks, and whistles, and love to hang out in big piles on the beach of more than 100! The walrus has air sacs under their throats that they can fill like floatation bubbles and bob vertically in the water and sleep! A walrus can move on land as fast as a man can run! Unlike seals, who have to drag their hind ends around, a walrus can walk on all fours! The walrus has a special strategy to dig for clams -- the SQUIRT! A walrus squirts high-power jets of water out of their mouths! They use this talent like a water drill to get to clams under the mud!

Marine Mammals Order Carnivora, the polar bears

Marine Mammals: Order Sirenia the manatees & dugongs

Marine Mammals: bottlenose dolphin

Marine Mammals

What is the Difference Between a Dolphin and a Porpoise? Dolphins and porpoises are so similar that it is easy to confuse which is which. In general, porpoises are smaller and plumper than dolphins, rarely reaching lengths of more than 6 feet and weights of more than 300 pounds. They have a rounded head and a small, triangular dorsal fin. Porpoises lack the "beak" characteristic of most dolphins, having a blunt snout instead.