Life Goes On: Fishes: Survival in a Challenging Environment
Two features of water, viscosity and density, present challenges for fishes that are very different from what animals who live on land or in the air must face. Fishes have been able to meet these challenges through a number of physiological adaptati...
Hands On: Need for More Oceanographers, The
Oceanography's rapid growth requires that sizable numbers of eager young scientists join the ranks of established veterans.
Living Together: Rocky Intertidal Zone, The: Challenges and Adaptations
The intertidal zone contains a rich abundance of diverse organisms, despite a multitude of challenges, from pounding waves and temperature fluctuation to competition for scarce resources. Nonetheless, many organisms manage to not only survive but to...
Life Goes On: Reptiles and Birds
While fishes are the most successful and abundant marine vertebrates, marine reptiles represent the fewest number of species and individuals. Marine birds probably evolved from reptiles and are generally considered to be among the most highly specia...
Living Together: Estuaries: Productivity and Vulnerability
Estuaries and wetlands are among the most productive areas anywhere, literally teeming with life. But these environments are often threatened by nutrient discharge from agricultural or farm land, as well as the building of homes or other forms of de...
Living Together: Symbiotic Relationships
The relationship between some of the algae and animals living in a coral reef is symbiotic, meaning the two species live together. Symbiotic relationships between residents of coral reefs or other communities can be mutually beneficial, but that is ...
Food for Thought: Primary Productivity and Global Geochemical Cycles
Thanks to recent breakthroughs in our ability to detect and analyze organisms much smaller than any studied in the past, scientists are now looking at a broad range of microbial life forms in the ocean. As part of this process, it's become much more...
Living Together: Marine Communities: Change and Bio-Diversity
For communities in the marine environment, change is an ongoing reality. Bio-diversity, which refers to the number of species and relative abundance of different species within a community, offers the best chance for community survival.
Life Goes On: Fishes: Defense Mechanisms
Defense mechanisms among fishes are highly diverse. They range from visual defenses, like camouflage and schooling, to being large and predatory.
Living Together: Coral Reefs: Structures and Communities
Sometimes referred to as the rain forest of the sea, coral reefs are home to a diverse array of producers, consumers and scavengers. Collectively, these comprise a dynamic ecosystem that is, in every sense of the word, a community.