P
BENTHOS
• Type of Substrate
– Hard (Rock)
– Soft (Sand or Mud)
P
BENTHOS
• Degree of Wave Shock
– High Energy (Rock)
– Low Energy (Sand or Mud)
BENTHOS
– Intertidal
• Duration of Exposure
– Leads to zonation
– Subtidal
– Deep-Sea
15_02a
P
Zonation in a
rocky intertidal
15_02b
S
PERIWINKLES
15_02g
S
BARNACLES
15_02i
S
ANEMONE
15_04
S
15_05b
S
SEA URCHINS
15_06
S
ALGAE
P
Zonation partly dependent on exposure, but also
partly dependent on competition
S
East side of the Galveston jetties - notice light green
band of algae AND dark green of a different algae
P
15_08
S
SAND BEACH ZONATION
less obvious, but still there
15_09a-e
S
CLAM BURROWING
15_12a
S
Nematode Head
(x804)
15_12b
S
Amphipod (crustacean)
15_12c
S
Polychaet (segmented worm)
P
LIVING STRATEGIES
• Attached
• Free Living
• Burrowing
15_14a
S
Kelp (attached)
15_18b
S
Sponge (attached)
15_15a
S
Spiny Lobster (free living)
15_16
S
Oyster Drill (free living)
S
Polychaete (burrowing)
P
SIZE
• Macrobenthos - large organisms (lobster)
– High biomass, Low productivity
• Meiobenthos - medium-sized (clam)
– Low biomass, High productivity
• Microbenthos - small-sized (round worms)
– Low biomass, High productivity
15_15a
S
Macrobenthos
Meiobenthos
15_12a
S
Microbenthos
P
CORAL REEFS
• serve as important habitats in the tropical
oceans
• are populated by about 25% of all fish
species
• are presently in a severe state of decline
world-wide from ocean warming,
sedimentation and exploitation
15_17
P
Speciation radiates from Indo-Pacific
15_19
S
Zonation of Coral Reefs
P
Coral Polyps
S
Coral Reef Fishes
S
S
Coral Atoll
ENERGY TRANSPORT TO
DEEP-SEA ORGANISMS
P
•
•
•
•
Small sinking particles
Overlapping ladders of migration
Transport from land
Large sinking particles
15_22
P
Schematic Food Pathways
15_Ctl
S
Baited Camera - 9600 meters
15_Ctr
S
15_Ccl
S
15_Ccr
S
15_Cbl
S
15_Cbr
S
S
15_01
P
DEEP-SEA BIOMASS ONLY ABOUT 1% OF
BIOMASS IN SHALLOW WATER - WHY?