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Oceanic Nekton Composition of the Oceanic Nekton Phylum: Chordata • Notochord and dorsal nerve cord • Gill slits, and a post-anal tail • Tunicates (sea squirts) Class: Agnatha • Jawless fish • Lampreys and hagfish • Represent ancestors of bony fish and sharks Class: Chondrichthyes • Skeleton made of cartilage – adaptation to be less buoyant • Gill slits • Placoid scales (origins same as teeth) • Internal Fertilization – male clasper: lay eggs, or live young • Sense electric, chemical, magnetic cues Sharks & Rays Subclass: Elasmobranchii Bottom dwellers (benthic) • • • • • • • Skates, rays, and some sharks Flattening of the body and expanded fins Catch fish Dig clams and worms from the sediment Manta Rays are plankton feeders Many lay eggs May have a large, sharp, defensive spine on the tail Subclass: Elasmobranchii Pelagic (open water) sharks • • • • • • Streamlined torpedo-shaped bodies 1 or 2 dorsal fins Pair of large pectoral fins Pair of pelvic fins Single ventral anal fin Heterocercal caudal fin (upper lobe elongated) Most predators • Whale & basking shark are filter feeders Slow to mature with low reproductive rates Some lay eggs others have live birth Shark Attacks More people die from pigs each year in the U.S. than sharks Result because of mistaken identity We put out sounds or odors like normal prey • Possession of hooked or speared fish thrashing in the water • Splashing creates low frequency vibrations that imitate the thrashing of a wounded animal How to Avoid a Shark Attack • Always swim in a group • Don’t wander too far from shore • Avoid the water at night, dawn, or dusk • Don’t enter the water if bleeding • Don’t wear shiny jewelry • Don’t go into waters containing sewage • Avoid water being fished and those with lots of bait fishes • • • • • • • Don’t enter the water if sharks are present Don’t splash a lot Use care near sandbars or steep drop-offs Avoid an uneven tan and brightly colored clothing Don’t relax just because porpoises are nearby Don’t try to touch a shark if you see one If attacked: the general is “Do whatever it takes to get away!” Types of Shark Attacks Provoked – caused by humans touching sharks Unprovoked – sharks make the first contact, 3 forms 1. Hit-and-run – near beaches, mistake the movements of humans for fish; legs and feet are often bitten; injuries minor and deaths rarely 2. Sneak – deeper water; victim doesn’t see the shark before the attack; serious injury or death, especially if shark continues to attack 3. Bump-and-bite – shark circles and bumps the victim with its head or body before biting; cause serious injury or death Sharks Under Attack • Humans kill 20-30 million sharks per year through commercial and sport fishing Class: Osteichthyes – Bony fish • Skeleton made of bone • Gills protected by an operculum • Expend energy to separate salt from water to prevent dehydration • Swim bladder in most • Most reproduce externally • Lateral lines – detect water motion and vibrations Bony Fish Fin Design – Diversity of Fish Wrasses - Use pectoral fins as oars • Provides slow but precise motion Seahorses & pipefish • Limited motility to maintain camouflage Triggerfish – undulate dorsal and anal fins • Great control and ability to sink vertically or backward into reef crevices Eels – dorsal, anal & tail fins are fused • Swim like snakes Tuna – crescent-shaped tail • Highly streamlined Flying Fish – elongated pectoral fins like wings Remoras – modified dorsal fin serves as a suction device • Attach to sharks, turtles, whales for a free ride • Detach to feed on scraps Fishes • Caudal fin – provides thrust, and control the fishes direction • Pectorals – act mostly as rudders and hydroplanes to control yaw and pitch. Also act as very important brakes causing drag • Pelvic fins – mostly controls pitch • Dorsal/anal – control roll Fins • Fusiform – swiftest of all fish – torpedo shape • Depressed – flatteneddorso ventrally – use camouflage instead of speed for survival • Compressed – flattened – side to side – gives fish great agility for movement and sudden bursts of speed • Attenuated - Eel-like – allows it to wiggle into small crevices where it hunts prey Body Shapes Body Shapes Flatfish • Begin life as ordinary fish • One eye migrates over the top of the head to the other side • Many also have ability to alter their colors to blend in Behavior and Special Body Features • Bioluminescence – built in light system • Barbels – look like whiskers but are not hairs. Used for feeling and tasting • Anglerfishes – fishing lure – to attract prey • Strange mouths – many animals mouths allow them to feed on foods others cannot catch or eat • Electricity – produced by special body organs Importance of Color • Camouflage – blend in with surroundings • Disruptive Coloration – spots and stripes break up the body shape and conceal them against backgrounds • False Eye Spots – May hide vulnerable parts of an animal’s body • Counter shading – dark backs blend in with the darkness of the deep ocean and light bellies make it hard for a predator to see them against bright sunlit surface waters. Importance of Color • Advertising coloration – attracts attention and advertises a special service • Warning – Some animals are so well protected with spines, poisons, and armor that their coloration is a warning for other species to stay away Cleaning behavior Specialized form of predation where small fish or shrimps remove various ectoparasites from other larger fish Occurs on all reefs Cleaning stations – advertise their presence through bright, contrasting colors • Fish to be cleaned remain motionless as the cleaner moves over its body removing the parasites • May even enter the mouth and gill chambers of fish • Fish may line up at these stations Reptiles Turtles Sea snakes Marine Iguanas • Not pelagic Saltwater crocodiles • Not pelagic Class: Reptilia • • • • Cold-blooded Breathe with lungs Scales Lay internally fertilized eggs Order: Squamata – sea snakes and lizards Snakes • 50 species confined to tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans • Distant relatives of cobras and are highly venomous • Their tail is flattened and serves as an oar Iguanas • 1 species • Confined to Galapagos Islands • herbivorous Iguanas Order: Crocodila • • • • • • Alligators, crocodiles, and caimans Semi aquatic Carnivorous Seldom grow beyond 6 meters Inhabit mangrove swamps and seacoasts Been known to attack people Crocodiles Alligators Order: Chelonia – Sea Turtles • • • • • • 7 species Limbs are modified as flippers Shells smooth, plated, and lightly built Inhabit warm seas Some herbivorous others predaceous Turtle skin is partially covered with scales Sea Turtles Turtles are the only reptiles with a shell Their extremities are always outside their shell. The backbone of the turtle is fused to their top shell as are their ribs. Turtles • The domed top of the turtle shell is called the carapace • The bottom part is called the plastron. • The number and arrangement of bony plates, on the carapace and plastron, can be used to determine each species. Turtles may have ectoparasites on their shell and skin. • do not harm the turtle, they are just hitching a ride • Barnacles often grow on turtle shells. • Crabs may be found hanging onto skin folds of marine turtles, especially around the tail. Tagging Turtles • Most species will not reproduce until they are 15-50 years old. • Male and female couples are seen mating in the ocean near beaches. • Male marine turtles have longer tails than the females • Females come ashore at night to build nest and lay eggs • A body pit is dug above the high tide line by the nesting female • About 100 eggs are laid • Process is repeated 3 to 7 times at two-week intervals • When nesting is finished they mate and sperm can be stored for 2 or 3 years • Eggs incubate for about 2 months • get out of their egg case they use an "egg tooth" which is on the tip of their mouth. • Many are eaten by gulls • Very few survive to become reproducing adults All Marine Turtles are Endangered • Loss of nesting habitat • Nesting females are poached Nests are dug up and eggs taken • Humans and wild animals Caught and drowned in shrimp trawler nets • Turtle exclusion device Fibropapilloma • Tumorous tissue growth • More common in females • Viruses – retro and herpes viruses Effects • Slower growth, reproduction? Can block gut, eyes and lead to death • Reduced immunity Vector • Saddle wrasses known to carry virus and clean turtles • • • • • • • • • Case Study: Green Sea Turtle Green-colored fat tissue Chelonia mydas Hatchlings weigh 1 oz; have carapace 2 in Subadults avg 200-350lbs; with carapace at least 2 1/2 ft long Adults – grow 4 ft and weigh up to 400lbs; carapace mottled dark brown on top and creamy white below Carapace often covered in green algal Males develop a single mating claw on the trailing edge of their fore flippers Distribution and Range • Found throughout the world’s oceans Feeding • Green body fat because of the green algae they eat • Primarily herbivorous • Juveniles are omnivorous feeding on plankton – jellyfish and fish eggs Reproduction • Reach sexual maturity at 25 sometimes taking up to 50 yrs • Adults migrate from foraging grounds to nesting grounds • Males appear to migrate every year • Females migrate every 2-4 years • Mating starts in march • Nesting occurs late April through September with a peak in June and July • Each female comes ashore as many as 5 times at 11 to 18 day intervals • Dig a broad pit with fore flippers and an egg chamber with rear flippers • Deposit clutch of 100-120 ping pong ball sized eggs • Gently cover the nest by flinging dirt over it with flippers • T of the eggs during incubation determines the gender: lower produces males • Hatching occurs at night after about 60 days • Hatchlings work as a group to dig to the surface • Head to the ocean attracted to the light reflected off the ocean • Seabirds, crabs and fish are often waiting nearby to grab an easy meal • Live up to 80 years Predators • Only natural predator = tiger sharks • Hatchlings = fish, crabs, birds, or perhaps cats or dogs Humans are the main non-natural predators • Eggs, meat, oil, and shell Other Threats • Entanglement in fishing gear and death from bycatch • US has reduced sea turtles deaths by requiring trawlers to use turtle excluder devices Plastics floating in ocean • Block the digestive system and are toxic Cigarette butts cannot digest filters which contain toxic ingredients Noise, lights and beach obstructions disrupt nesting areas • 50% of green turtles in Hawaii have fibropapilloma • Tumors the size of grapefruit grow over the eyes, mouth, neck or flippers • Tumors are not deadly but block the sight, breathing, or feeding activities Class: Aves - birds • • • • • Wings Skin modified into Feathers (flight & insulation) Endothermic (warm-blooded) Bones hollow for flight Reduction of jaws, lack of teeth, beak (lighten skull) • 4 chambered heart • Must return to land to raise young Sea Bird Fun Sea Birds vs Land Birds Most black, white, brown, or mixtures • Possibly because melanin strengthens feathers Usually no plumage difference between the sexes or age Waterproof plumage and webbed feet Specialized salt elimination glands either associated with eyes or nostrils Some try to catch rain drops to supplement drinking saltwater Sea Birds Sea Birds • Not technically nektonic since they fly over the open ocean or swim on the surface • Do feed in the upper layers and some may dive to depths near 100m to feed • Flightless penguins of the Southern Hemisphere How to Identify • • • • Size Shape and length of wings and tail Color of soft parts (legs webbing and bill) Flight patterns –gliding, soaring, flapping, direct or erratic • Height above water • Landing on water Sea bird feeding All are predators Cormorants, puffins, and penguins pursue their prey underwater • Powerful strokes of their webbed feet • May flap wings also Pelicans, ospreys, kingfisher, and terns spot their prey from the air and drop into the water to catch Skimmers fly along the surface with their lower beak trailing in the water Shorebirds concentrate on invertebrates inhabiting the rocks and sand beaches Sea Birds of the World • Order: Procellariiformes (albatross, shearwaters, petrels, storm-petrels) • Order Pelecaniformes (tropicbirds, boobies, frigatebirds) • Order Charadriiformes (shorebirds, jaegers, gulls, terns, noddies) • Order Sphenisciformes (penguins) Penguins Order: Sphenisciformes - Penguins • 16 species restricted to cold waters of the S. Hemisphere Lost the power of flight – “fly” by flapping wings underwater • Only bird that doesn’t have hollow bones Feathers are modified to provide insulation • Layer of fat under the skin Feed on fish, squid, and shrimp Penguin Good Parents • Males and females form a pair bond and then work together caring for the chicks Most nest in huge rookeries Most species only raise one chick per year and no species raises more than 2 Emperor and king penguins do not build nests of any kind • Keep the egg and chick on their feet for warmth Penguin Live Penguin Diet Penguin Feathers Penguin Swimming Penguin Wing Pelicans • 2 species – both have beaks modified as expansible pouches • White pelican – swim on surface and dip into the water • Brown pelican – watch for fish while flying Pelican Cormorants • Dive from the surface and swim underwater • Perch with wings half open to dry Ospreys • Soles of feet are equipped with sharp, spiny projections • Carries the fish with head forward making it aerodynamic Osprey Threats to Seabirds • • • • • • • Incidental mortality in long-line fisheries Entanglement in marine debris Ingestion of plastics Oil spills Accumulation of toxins Introduced predators/habitat destruction Natural – predators, parasites and diseases, oceanic events, and biotoxins Heron Class: Mammalia • Body covered with hair • Viviparous – young are nourished during development in the uterus • Milk secreted by the mammary glands • Lungs • Endothermic (warm-blooded) Mammals Key Deer Unique to several islands in the lower Florida Keys National Key Deer Refuge • National Key Deer Refuge Description • • • • Smaller than other white tails Males weigh about 80 lbs Females average 64 lbs Coats vary from a reddish-brown to nearly gray • Black facial mask of the fawn intensifies in adults especially in males • 1970’s – deer population increased to 350400 deer • 1980 – declined to 250-300 80% of deaths are due to road kills • Dog kills, harassment, poaching, drowning, extreme drought and old age Habitat • Most found on Big Pine Key because of its size and high quality habitat • Must have fresh water in their habitat every month of the year Future Greatest threats • Alterations of their habitat as a result of development and interaction with people Habitat protection is the only true solution Two types of Whales Order: Cetacea – whales Suborder: Odontoceti (toothed whales) • Porpoises and dolphins, narwhal, beluga whales, killer whales, and sperm whales • Feed mainly on fish and squid • Dolphins have conical teeth and pronounced beak • Porpoise have spatulate teeth and no beak • Remarkable intelligence • Navigate by echolocation Toothed Whales Dolphins and Driftnets Gill Net – wall of netting meshes form a noose around the heads and bodies of fish • Target species – fish that are intentionally caught • Bycatch – marine life accidentally caught 1989 NOAA sampled 4% of a Japanese ships in north Pacific • 3 million squid (target species) • 58,100 blue sharks, 1,510,255 various species of fish, 9,117 birds, 52 fur seals, 22 sea turtles, 141 porpoises, and 914 dolphins Dolphins Dolphin Defense • Marine Mammal Protection Act 1972 places limits on the # of dolphins that can be taken as bycatch 1990 intense letter-writing campaign • 3 major U.S. tuna companies agreed to no longer purchase tuna caught in purse seine nets Echolocation • Dolphin can determine the difference between a kernel of corn and a ball bearing from 49 feet • High frequency sound transmitted over long distances • Single echo tells the animal the shape, size, density, and location of an object • Sound is produced in air sacs attached to the respiratory tract • Directed through fatty deposits in their melons. • Feels or hears the click echo in its jawbone • The information is passed to the middle ear and then the brain for processing Echolocation Killer Whales Orca Case Study • Orcinus orca • All oceans of the world • Generally colder waters in higher latitudes in both hemispheres • One blowhole opening • Stable, long term social groups • Travel in groups with fewer than 20 • Occasionally larger herds of 100 or more Two types of social groups • Extended family – live relatively near-shore and move somewhat seasonally over welldefined ranges of 60 miles (resident pods) • Solitary or small pods – appear periodically over hundreds of miles and travel further offshore (transient whales) • Males grow to 30 ft • Females rarely greater than 22 ft • Male dorsal fin can reach nearly 7 ft in height • Female dorsal fin are less than 3 ft high • Live 50 or more years • Mature in their early teenage years • Mature females are frequently observed with mothers and calves perhaps providing assistance in calf rearing • Dominant male with a small number of females whom he mates with (last many years) Orca Sperm Whales • Largest toothed whale • Deepest divers of any air breathing mammal Head contains oil – spermaceti • Thought to provide buoyancy and ability to focus sound • Used for lamp fuel and lubricants Thought to stun giant squid with blasts of focused sound Whale Predators Suborder: Mysticeti – baleen whales Right whales, blue whales, gray whales, and humpback whales • Whiskery fringes of baleen hang from the upper jaws and used as strainers for capturing plankton Humpback whales • Undertake large seasonal migrations – They will not feed during winter migration • Known for their whale songs Humpback Whale Case Study • 5th largest of the great whales • Megaptera novaeangliae – Big Wings of New England • 15 ft pectoral fins • “Hump-back” early whalers – appearance of arching their back while diving, and the dorsal fin • Females slightly larger than males • 45 and 42 ft respectively • May weigh up to a ton per foot, (nearly 40 tons – 80,000lbs) • Calves – 10-15 ft and avg 3,000lbs at birth • Grayish-black in color with white markings on their sides and underside • Eye – about the size of a large orange • Ear is located just behind and below the eye • No external ear flap • Nares (blowholes) are located near the center of the head • Elevated area in front of the blowhole – splash guard prevents water from entering blowholes when they breathe • Long migrations – 7,000 mile round-trip between summer feeding and winter breeding in Hawaii • Swim at speeds in excess of 15 miles per hr Tubercles • sensory nodules (golf ball size) on upper and lower jaws and along lips • Contains a hair follicle – function is unknown but believed to provide some sensory capability (vibration or temperature) Ventral Pleats • • • • Grooves located along the whale’s throat From the tip of lower jaw to the navel 12 to 30 Allow the animal to expand its mouth (3X) during feeding Song of the Humpback Songs of the Humpback Whale How they create these sounds in unknown • do not have functional vocal cords • May be various valves and muscles in a series of blind sacs in the respiratory tract • Highest and lowest frequencies humans can hear Song is most complex in the animal kingdom • Only males sing • May serve as a reproductive function to attract females, scare away other males, or maintain distance (territory) • Males in a population sing the same song Song is in a constant state of evolution • Themes may be introduced or changed Humpback Whale Photo Identification: • Determine life histories, social organization, migratory behavior, and populations • Underneath surface of the tail flukes Humpback Whale Behaviors Blow – take a breath every 10-15 minutes • Can remain submerged up to 45 min • Calves must surface every 3-5 min Spy Hop – rises vertically toward the surface with head out of water Tail Slap – raises tail fluke out of water and slaps forcefully • Repetitive and may serve as a warning Humpback Humpback Whale Behaviors Pec Slap – slap water’s surface with one or both fins • Communication signal to other whales Head lunge – competitive display Peduncle slap – energetic display • Throws its tail out of water Reproduction • • • • • • • Conceived and born in Hawaii Mating occur en route Gestation is 10-12 months Sightings of calves are common during winter Actual birth has never been documented Calves weaned after 10 to 11 months Mother-calf pairs are often accompanied by an adult male escort – believed he is seeking to reproduce with female • Competition for females is common on breeding grounds • Dramatic and violent behaviors can occur Humpback Reproduction Humpback Whale Behaviors Fluke up Dive – tail appears out of water in an upward arch and slowly rolls underwater in a dive Breach – acrobatic display • Uses its tail to launch itself out of water and lands back on the surface with a splash Feeding • Small schooling fish (herring and mackerel), and krill • Consume about 1 ton (2,000lbs) of fish a day • Go without food during winter months Endangered • Protected since 1966 in North Pacific • 2,000 and 5,000 individuals • Since 1963 in South Pacific Group Humpback Sea Otter Order: Carnivora – sea otters Not pelagic Order: Carnivora Family: Ursidae Polar Bear • Terrestrial predators • Observed swimming for 3 days without stopping • Weigh up to ½ ton Females are good mothers • Males have no part in rearing young • Females raise young for 2 ½ years Males live completely solitary lives coming together with females only to mate • Prey on any and all cubs even their own Warm T can be hazardous • 4.5 inch layer of blubber • Can overheat Polar Bears Sea Lion Order: Carnoivora Suborder: Pinnipedia: seals & sea lions • Sea lions (ear flaps), walruses, and seals (no ear flaps, rear flippers point backwards) • Carnivores • Limbs modified as flippers Return to land or ice to reproduce • Large bulls dominant over “harems” of females Predators – Great White Sharks, Orcas, and people Pinnipeds Case Study: The Hawaiian Monk Seal • Monachus schauinslandi May have gotten name: • From its round head covered with short hairs – Friar Tuck Appearance or • “monk-like” of solitary existence • Life expectancy 25 – 30 years • Females are slightly larger than males 7-8 ft • 300-400lbs for males 400-600lbs for females • Adults have a brownish pelage (coat) • Juveniles are silvery gray on back and sides, creamy white on belly, chest and throat • Pups are black and woolly with fuzzy, short hair • Typically have scars from sharks (tigers, gray and white-tip reef) and from being entangled in fishing gear • Mature females also have scars from aggressive males during mating 3 species • Mediterranean (critically endangered) • Caribbean (thought to be extinct) • Hawaiian (endangered) Natural History • • • • Cool: lying on damp sand Very inactive when ashore Respiration: long periods of breath holding Low metabolic heat production Pregnant females and nursing mothers appear greatly upset when approached • Cause increased deaths of seal pups Solitary in water and onshore • Loose groups may form on beaches when environmental conditions are favorable • Resting seals will avoid bodily contact with each other (except for mothers and pups) • Dive at least to 500 ft • Remain underwater for as long as 20 min while foraging • Vocalize from pups to adults • Alarmed adults will make a “bubbling” that originates deep in the throat Fewer than 1500 Hawaiian monk seals exist today Illegal to kill, capture, or harass monk seals • Population declines due to • Human activity to remote and isolated area • Many are clubbed to death for meat, oil, and their skin • Death from predation by sharks • Lower pup survival due to human disturbances • Ciguartera intoxication • Entanglement in fishing nets and debris Reproduction • Polygynous – mate a number of times with a number of different partners • Adult males outnumber females 3 to 1 • Mate in the water • Give birth between mid-December and midAugust peak season in May • Gestation is about 1 year • Mothers due not feed while nursing • Nurse 5 to 6 weeks Feeding • Fish and invertebrates • Spiny lobster, eels, flatfish, small reef fish, larval fish and octopus • Eat as much as 10% of their body weight a day Seals Walrus Walruses • Spend time on icebergs • Highly social Only member of the order to have tusks • Both male and female Manatee Order: Sirenia Manatees & dugongs Not pelagic Relative of elephants Manatee Live Order: Sirenia Manatees • Tropical rim of the Atlantic • Immense tail flattened in horizontal plane and rounded • Hind limbs are lacking with front limbs flippers • Ear openings but no external ears • Large grinding molars, no canines or incisors • Tiny eyes and nostrils can be closed to exclude water • Slow moving, gentle vegetarians Manatee Harm Dugongs • Inhabit the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Southeast Asia, and Northern Australia Sea Cows • Thought to be the origin of mermaids Close to extinction • Accidental collisions with boats Hunting • Tears are said to be aphrodisiac • Meat is delicious • Oil that is said to be a remedy for everything from headaches to constipation Magnetism guides Animal Migration