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.
Life Goes On: Fishes: Sensory Mechanisms
Fishes survive in the ocean in part due to their sensory mechanisms. They utilize both sight and smell in this regard, as well as what's called a lateral line system. This is a series of pores and canals along the body a..
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 num..
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..
Life Goes On: Vertebrates: Marine and Terrestrial
Marine biologists informally classify marine animals into two large groups: invertebrates and vertebrates. Vertebrates have backbones, while invertebrates do not. There are far more invertebrates than vertebrates in the ..
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..
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 ..
Living Together: Hydrothermal Vents: Life in the Extreme
Hydrothermal vents were discovered by the submersible Alvin in 1977. They are sometimes characterized as deep ocean hot springs found thousands of feet beneath the surface. Hydrothermal vents are of great interest becaus..
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 com..
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 mana..