Found deep in the ocean, the snake dragonfish has large eyes, a glowing lure, and various light organs along its belly and eyes that help it survive. They dwell in the upper part of the Bathypelagic zone around 1200m. However, they do travel up to hunt other organisms at night. +Geological
-The snake dragonfish interacts primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean in the upper part of the Bathypelagic zone around 1200 m. They can swim upwards to find additional food to prey on.
+Chemical
-The snake dragonfish utilizes bioluminescence on a lure attached to its lower jaw. This allows it to attract prey to feed on. The lure is tactically located on the lower jaw instead of the top of its head to avoid attracting larger predators.
+Biological
- The snake dragonfish preys on smaller crustaceans and fish. They have the ability to swim upwards in the zone to find additional food sources.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
Giant Squid: Architeuthis
The Giant Squid is no doubt one of the most feared and accounted sea creatures of all time. Thought much folklore has been written and painted depicting Giant Squid as viscous creatures who indulge themselves on ships and their crew, in reality they are a very shy, timid invertebrate that frequents the depths rather than the surface. Their level of seclusion therefore makes them extremely elusive. So elusive that an adult Giant Squid was not filmed in it's true habitat until 2004. Frequenting the Mesopelagic and Bathypelagic Open Ocean zone, the 30+ foot squid tend to stay somewhere in the range of 4,000-10,000 ft deep. They have been found washed up on the shore of nearly every ocean and have a massive range that covers the entire planet.
Similar to other squid, the Giant Squid was 8 arms with two larger tentacles and a mantle, which is comprised of the torso section, housing all major organs and the squid's highly advanced nervous system. This nervous system is crucial to the survival of the squid. In the "Twilight Zone" as the Bathypelagic area has been called, sunlight is minimal and therefore finding prey in the vast, dark ocean would be extremely difficult without the use of highly tuned senses. Coupled with massive eyes that allow the squid to utilize all available light, their extreme senses are able to track prey in the darkest of areas. Typically, such prey would consists of other, smaller squid and deep sea fish. Once the squid is within range to use it's two tentacles, little can be done to save the victim as it is pulled into the mouth cavity where it is devoured by it's giant "beak" and serrated tongue.
In order to move, the Giant Squid pulses water through a hole in their mantle, producing a water jet that allows them to gracefully and rapidly if need be, glide through the depths. Two fin-like structures on the mantle help steer the squid as it pulses along. However, even with such amazing adaptations, they are not always fast enough to make a full escape of whales that often hunt them. Though several species of whale have been known to hunt the squid, the Sperm Whale is certainly the most successful, and because of this many scientists who research the squid have been said to follow packs of Sperm Whales to lead them to their specimens.
The squid's physical interaction with the ocean is widely unknown, but they undoubtedly utilize ocean currents when available to glide along and save energy. The chemical interaction with the ocean itself is also unknown, along with many other pieces of information simply because it is such an elusive creature. The squid have been known to frequent ocean shelves, pointing to a geologic interaction that mainly focusses on the availability of prey.
It is my hope that much more information will come out in the future about such an amazing creature and I look forward to learning more about it. The Giant Squid is a prime example of just how little we actually know about our planet.
SOURCES:
Similar to other squid, the Giant Squid was 8 arms with two larger tentacles and a mantle, which is comprised of the torso section, housing all major organs and the squid's highly advanced nervous system. This nervous system is crucial to the survival of the squid. In the "Twilight Zone" as the Bathypelagic area has been called, sunlight is minimal and therefore finding prey in the vast, dark ocean would be extremely difficult without the use of highly tuned senses. Coupled with massive eyes that allow the squid to utilize all available light, their extreme senses are able to track prey in the darkest of areas. Typically, such prey would consists of other, smaller squid and deep sea fish. Once the squid is within range to use it's two tentacles, little can be done to save the victim as it is pulled into the mouth cavity where it is devoured by it's giant "beak" and serrated tongue.
In order to move, the Giant Squid pulses water through a hole in their mantle, producing a water jet that allows them to gracefully and rapidly if need be, glide through the depths. Two fin-like structures on the mantle help steer the squid as it pulses along. However, even with such amazing adaptations, they are not always fast enough to make a full escape of whales that often hunt them. Though several species of whale have been known to hunt the squid, the Sperm Whale is certainly the most successful, and because of this many scientists who research the squid have been said to follow packs of Sperm Whales to lead them to their specimens.
The squid's physical interaction with the ocean is widely unknown, but they undoubtedly utilize ocean currents when available to glide along and save energy. The chemical interaction with the ocean itself is also unknown, along with many other pieces of information simply because it is such an elusive creature. The squid have been known to frequent ocean shelves, pointing to a geologic interaction that mainly focusses on the availability of prey.
It is my hope that much more information will come out in the future about such an amazing creature and I look forward to learning more about it. The Giant Squid is a prime example of just how little we actually know about our planet.
SOURCES:
- Monster of the Deep. Rep. no. 02624079. 2406 ed. Vol. 179. Web. 23 Aug. 2003.
— "Giant Squid." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 02 May 2011.
— "Giant Squid, Giant Squid Pictures, Giant Squid Facts - National Geographic." Animals, Animal Pictures, Wild Animal Facts - National Geographic. Web. 02 May 2011.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Diatoms plays a large role in oceanography. Due to the shell they have, Diatoms, once they die, become part of the sediment, leaving their silicate shell(Si02) behind. This is appropriately named diatomic earth. Over time, the sediment will weather out, providing more silica to the ocean. They are omnipresent, as they are marine floaters. They also provide how the condition of the water is and is used as a gauging tool for environments in the past, determining if there was any sort of pollution. They usually set a good record as they started to appear in the Cretaceous period. There are three types of diatoms, for three different types of diatoms based on nutrient limit toleration and water speed, the categories being low profile guild, medium profile guild and high profile guild. The diatoms in the low profile guild tend to be in nutrient-poor and live in high speed habitats. High profile guilds tend to live in nutrient high areas along with places with slow running water. This could be called their ideal spot. Last but not least, the medium profile guild would live in areas of moderate nutrients and moderate water speed.
Passy, Sophia I. "Diatom ecological guilds display distinct and predictable behavior along nutrient and disturbance gradients in running waters." Aquatic Botany 86.2 (2007): 171-178. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Apr. 2011.
D. B. Lazarus, B. Kotrc, G. Wulf, and D. N. Schmidt. Radiolarians decreased silicification as an evolutionary response to reduced Cenozoic ocean silica availability. PNAS, June 9, 2009; 106(23): 9333 - 9338.
Passy, Sophia I. "Diatom ecological guilds display distinct and predictable behavior along nutrient and disturbance gradients in running waters." Aquatic Botany 86.2 (2007): 171-178. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Apr. 2011.
D. B. Lazarus, B. Kotrc, G. Wulf, and D. N. Schmidt. Radiolarians decreased silicification as an evolutionary response to reduced Cenozoic ocean silica availability. PNAS, June 9, 2009; 106(23): 9333 - 9338.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Ecosystem Information
Post General Information About Mesopelagic And Bathypelagic Opean Ocean Here
Our zone covers from 200m to 1000m down in the Ocean, is largely deprived of light and is therefore home to many interesting creatures and organisms inhabiting the so-called twilight and midnight zones.
Due to the harsh conditions described by Smart, most believed not many, if any organisms could live in harsh conditions. Nonetheless, it led to the evolution of bio-luminescent creatures such as the angler fish, species with large eyes to see any possible light such as the giant squid and dependence on detritus as food or if size allows, a temporary place of shelter.
Our zone covers from 200m to 1000m down in the Ocean, is largely deprived of light and is therefore home to many interesting creatures and organisms inhabiting the so-called twilight and midnight zones.
Due to the harsh conditions described by Smart, most believed not many, if any organisms could live in harsh conditions. Nonetheless, it led to the evolution of bio-luminescent creatures such as the angler fish, species with large eyes to see any possible light such as the giant squid and dependence on detritus as food or if size allows, a temporary place of shelter.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Norwich GL111 Term Project Introductions
As part of our Introduction to Oceanography class this Spring 2011 semester at Norwich University, our group will be researching and presenting on plants and animals that live in an ecosystem called the 'Mesopelagic and Bathypelagic Open Ocean'.
We have three group members:
Nick Smart, Kyle Kickey, and Alex Chen
Each member of our group will be reporting on a different marine organism that lives in the mesopelagic or bathypelagic ecosystem zones of the open ocean. One will be a zooplankton, one a phytoplankton, one a marine invertebrate, and one a marine vertebrate.
As part of an integrated approach, we will be researching how our organisms interact with the other aspects of the ocean system (geological, physical, and chemical).
We have three group members:
Nick Smart, Kyle Kickey, and Alex Chen
Each member of our group will be reporting on a different marine organism that lives in the mesopelagic or bathypelagic ecosystem zones of the open ocean. One will be a zooplankton, one a phytoplankton, one a marine invertebrate, and one a marine vertebrate.
As part of an integrated approach, we will be researching how our organisms interact with the other aspects of the ocean system (geological, physical, and chemical).
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