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Open Ocean
By: Madison Poe, Chelsea Yarbrough, Alexis
Treace, Megan Williams
The Open Ocean
covers a vast bulk of
the world, over
360,000,000 square
kilometers.
Regions of the Open Ocean
The Pelagic Zone, is the largest area of the marine ecosystem.
Vertical zonations depend on the depth to which sufficient light penetrates
to support photosynthesis.
Photic zone- supported by light and photosynthesis; supports life for
plankton which begins the food chain
Aphotic zone- almost no light which results in no support for photosynthesis
Life in the Open Ocean
• The open sea is a pelagic ecosystem, in which the living
component are plankton and nekton.
•Plankton are any
drifting organisms
(animals, plants,
archaea, or bacteria)
that inhabit the pelagic
zone of oceans, and
seas.
•Nekton are the actively
swimming organisms whose
movements are not governed
by currents or tides.
Included in this group of
animals are some larger
invertebrates, fishes,
reptiles, birds, and
mammals.
Plankton
• Femtoplankton:
Akinetic- non moving plankton, drifters.
Include most viruses and are the smallest prokaryotes.
0.02 Micrometers in size
• Picoplankton:
Mostly akinetic plankton.
Also include viruses, bacteria and the smallest prokaryotes.
0.2 Micrometers in size
• Nanoplankton:
Kinetic- move by flagella, jet propulsion, undulation of the body,
swimming appendages, or other means.
Types of Nanoplankton- Cyanophytes, coccolithophores,
silicoflagellates, green flagellates, ciliates.
2.0 Micrometers in size
More Plankton
• Microplankton:
Kinetic
Small plankton that can be caught by standard plankton nets (Advanced in
cloth fabrication technology)
Includes many diatoms, dinoflagellates, and invertebrate larvae.
20 Micrometers in size
• Mesoplankton:
Kinetic
Also contains sargassum weed and detached rafts of benthic algae. Include
most adult zooplankton and larval fishes
200-2000 micrometers in size
• Macroplankton:
Kinetic
Organisms that are visible to the naked eye and generally exceed 1
millimeter.
Include many gelatinous zooplankton, krill
• Megaplankton:
Kinetic
Largest plankton
Include large jellyfishes, colonies of siphonophores, salps, and sargassum
weed.
0.2 Meters in size
Nekton:
Invertebrates
SQUID
•
•
•
Open ocean dwellers
Keen eyesight
Achieve bursts of speed that are
faster than the fastest fishes
•Intelligent
•Stream-lined body
•Sucker-laden tentacles
Nekton:
Fish
Adaptations to the open sea:
Majority of bony fish that inhabit the open sea,
have mouths at the front of their body with lower
jaws that protrude farther forward than the upper
jaw.
This arrangement allows the fish to grab prey from
a variety of positions.
When the fish opens its mouth to seize its prey, the
jaws project forward and retract quickly as the
mouth closes.
Types of Fish
• Billfish- Marlin, Sailfish
-Elongated upper jaw, lack teeth
-They feed by swimming into schools
of fish or squid, flailing their bills left
and right beating their prey and then
swallowing their stunned victims
whole.
• Tuna- Bluefin, Yellowfin, Albacore,
Ocean Bonitio
- Must swim constantly or they will
sink due to a lack of swim bladder.
- Requires a lot of energy and a good
supply of oxygen.
- Must have a higher body
temperature than water for a faster
metabolism.
- Large skeletal muscles for
swimming
- Exhibits bursts of speed up to 54
kilometers per hour.
-Their streamlined body decreases
water resistance.
Ocean Sunfish:
-Relaxed swimmers
-Spend most of their time lying on their side at the surface of
the water in the sun (Hints the name)
-Highly modified caudal fin and prominent dorsal and anal
fins.
- May reach lengths of more than 10 feet and exceed weight
of 1 ton
- It is a haven for parasites
More Types of Fish
Some More Types of Fish
•
Sharks:
- Most efficient types of predators
- Sharks reproduce through copulation ( the male
transferring sperm to the female) which increases the
likelihood that the maximal number of eggs be
fertilized.
- Most species are viviparious (eggs hatch inside the
mother’s body)
- Reproductive strategies are more efficient and the
survival rate of their offspring is better.
The Last Fish
• Manta Ray- “Devil Fish”
- May measure 20 feet and weigh 1.5 tons
- Primarily feed on small fishes and plankton and channel food
into their mouth with their labial flaps.
- Olden beliefs said that manta rays could drag ships by their
anchors to the bottom and then they would devour them.
Reptiles
• Sharks and reptiles ruled the sea in the
Mesozoic era.
• Sea Snakes:
- The only open ocean reptile.
- Cruises the Indian and Pacific oceans
along drift lines in search of small fish to
capture as prey.
-The yellow-bellied sea snake cannot
descend to the sea floor to rub its
shedding skin against rock or coral.
Instead the snake slips its body into and
out of knots, abrading the skin against
itself to remove and parasites.
-They retain their eggs within the
reproduction tract until hatching, giving
birth at sea.
Birds And Mammals
• Birds: Penguins of the southern oceans
-Flightless
-Adapted to the open sea except for their need to return
to the open ocean for reproduction
- Consume large numbers of krill, squid and fish.
• Mammals: Whales (Cetaceans)
-Baleen whales (toothless) consume krill and sometimes
fish.
- Sperm whales (toothed) consume squid and fish.
-Most extensively adapted to the marine environment.
-Travel in pods for feeding and mating purposes.
Credits
• Marine Biology 2nd edition
• Google Images
• “Part of Your World” (Piano Version)