Salinity Critter cards On the back of each card, write what makes each critter significant to the study of SALINITY

Where do these organisms live on the Gradient of Salinity? TOTALLY FRESH BRACKISH OCEANIC SUPER SALINE

Elodea

Elodea is a freshwater flowering plant (not an algae) that typifies a botanical adaptation to an aquatic lifestyle. As a result, it is not tolerant to salt water. Useful for classroom lab demos: microscopy plasmolysis photosynthesis

Surf Grass (at low tide)

At hide tide

Surf grass is a flowering marine plant, and so is tolerant to salt water. It lives in the intertidal zone, down to 40 feet deep

You also have seen Salt Grass (on the Gradient of Salinity)

Seaweed

Three types

One of three divisions of multicellular algae: green brown red These are mostly marine, and are customarily called “seaweeds.” They can survive almost complete dehydration during low tides.

Dryin’ but not dyin’

Caspian Sea seal

By the way, just where is the Caspian Sea?

The largest land- locked sea, about one third as salty as the ocean

Brine shrimp

Little crustaceans that are tolerant of extreme salty environments, from 24‰ – 250‰ !!! (although the optimal, as you know by now, is 60‰ – 100‰ )

Mono Lake

San Francisco Bay

Fiddler crab

Crustacean that burrows in muddy ecosystems, like brackish water estuaries

Three-spine stickleback

Example of a euryhaline fish. Many species live in brackish water (like estuaries in Washington.)

Tidepool sculpin

A euryhaline intertidal fish. Can withstand the changes in salinity a tidepool experiences: Less salty due to rain water or more salty due to evaporation

Pup fish

Devil’s Hole

Variety (over 100 species) of rare inland fish that exist in extreme environments (over 100°F and twice as salty as the ocean)

Diatoms

Any of the thousands of species of unicellular plant-like protists

Yellowfin tuna

Stenohaline marine fish with a low tolerance for variation in salinity

Rainbow trout

Stenohaline freshwater fish with a low tolerance for any salt

Polychaete worm

Marine annelid (segmented worm) that demonstrates being an osmoconformer. Tide pool species can tolerate changes in salinity. Because of this, it is a euryhaline organism.

chiton

Mollusk that can adapt to tide pool conditions by surviving extreme dessication (75% of its water)

limpet

Another intertidal mollusk. Survives low tide by “clamming up.” Seals its shell against rock substrate

Coralline algae (encrusting)

Coralline algae (not a plant) is a red algae (but can be purple or pink.) completely marine (intertidal) and hard because of calcium in cell walls. Comes in two varieties: encrusting and articulated