1 . Intertidal
– Shallowest area
– Between the low and high tide lines
– Changing environment

Periwinkle

Fingernail Limpet

Buckshot Barnacles

Gooseneck Barnacles

Mussels
Mussel with barnacles on it
Mussel with barnacles on it

Sea Urchin
Sea star
Sea weed
Sea anemones – closed above water, open below water Chiton
Seaweed

•
2. Sublittoral
– Always underwater
– On continental shelf
– Most variety of benthic life

Coral
Sponge with brittle star

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

4. Abyssal
- No sunlight
- 4000 – 6000 m
- On abyssal plain
Tube worms

Foraminifera
5. Hadal
•
6000m -11,000m
• Trench

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

Seahorse
Angel fish Clown fish
Bluefin Tuna
Jellyfish
Herring

Plankton

1. Epipelagic
•
Surface – 200 meters
• Sunlight, warm

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
Firefly Squid
Cuttlefish

Coelacanth
Ogrefish
Deep Sea Angler

Giant Siphonophore

Bloodbelly Comb Jelly

4. Bathypelagic zone
2,000 – 4,000 meters
Giant Squid
Vampire Squid

4.
Abyssopelagic zone
4000 – 6000 meters
low oxygen, nutrients and food
Dark and cold
Snipe Eel
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