Ocean Environments
Two Basic Divisions
1. Benthic Zone – bottom
2. Pelagic Zone - water
Benthic Zones
1. Intertidal
– Shallowest area
– Between the low and
high tide lines
– Changing environment
Periwinkle
Fingernail Limpet
Barnacle mating
Buckshot Barnacles
Gooseneck Barnacles
Mussel with
barnacles on it
Mussels
Mussel with
barnacles on it
Sea Urchin
Sea star
Sea weed
Chiton
Seaweed
Sea anemones – closed above water, open
below water
Benthic Zones
• 2. Sublittoral
– Always underwater
– On continental shelf
– Most variety of benthic life
Sponge with
brittle star
Coral
Benthic Zones
3. Bathyal
- starts at continental
slope and extends to
4000 m
- little or no sunlight
- cold 4°C
- very high pressure
Brittle Stars
Crinoids (Sea Lilies)
Sea cucumbers
Benthic Zones
4. Abyssal
- No sunlight
- 4000 – 6000 m
- On abyssal plain
Tube worms
Benthic Zones
5. Hadal
• 6000m -11,000m
• Trench
Foraminifera
Pelagic Zone – water area
1. Neritic

water area above
continental shelf
2. Oceanic
 water off of continental shelf
 further divided into 5 areas
based on depth
• Oceanic zone is
further divided into 5
areas based on depth
Neritic Zone Life
Seahorse
Angel fish
Clown fish
Bluefin Tuna
Jellyfish
Herring
Plankton
Oceanic Zones
1. Epipelagic
• Surface – 200 meters
• Sunlight, warm
Oceanic Zones
Firefly Squid
2. Mesopelagic
• twilight zone - some light but no
photosynthesis
• 200 – 2000 meters
• contains thermocline (large
temperature change)
• low-energy tissues and sluggish
lifestyles to cope with low food
energy, since no algae can grow.
• Many animals are bioluminescent
Cuttlefish
Ogrefish
Deep Sea Angler
Coelacanth
Giant Siphonophore
Bloodbelly Comb Jelly
Pelagic Zones
Giant Squid
3. Bathypelagic zone
2,000 – 4,000 meters
Vampire Squid
Pelagic Zones
4.
Snipe Eel
Abyssopelagic zone
- 4000 – 6000 meters
-
low oxygen, nutrients
and food
Dark and cold
Zoarcid Fish
Resources
Anderson, Genny (2002). The splash zone. Retrieved August 5, 2008, from http://www.biosbcc.net/ocean/flspl.htm#top
Allison, M., DeGaetano, A., & Pasachoff, J. (2006). Earth Science. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Deep Sea. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from Monteray Bay Aquarium Online Field Guide Web site:
http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/living_species/default.asp?hab=9
Flach, Author's first name initialEls, & Heip, Carlo (1996). Vertical distribution of macrozoobenthos within the sediment on
the continental slope of the Globan spur area. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 141, 55-66.
Monsters of the Deep Sea. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from Sea and Sky Web site: http://www.seasky.org/deepsea/creatures-menu.html
Rager, Nicolle (2004). Sea Vent Viewer. Retrieved August 7, 2008, from Natinal Science Foundation Web site:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/earth-environ/interact01.jsp
Roach, John (2005, Feb. 3). Life Is Found Thriving at Ocean's Deepest Point. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from National
Geographic News Web site: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0203_050203_deepest.html
Yancey, Paul (2008). Deep Sea Biology. Retrieved August 7, 2008, Web site:
http://people.whitman.edu/~yancey/deepsea.html
Viau, Elizabeth A. (2003). The littoral zone. Retrieved August 5, 2008, from World Builders Web site:
http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/les5/littoral.html