OCEAN PELAGIC ZONE
Biome Extension
Brendan Weiss, Zabrina Shvartsman, Ashley Sroka
1. Distribution
a. Dolphins
i. Clumped
1. swim in schools
b. Fish
i. Clumped
1. swim in schools
c. Zooplankton
i. Random
1. cannot move on
their own
a. they float
2. their movement
is caused by the
current
2. Density independent factors
a. Abiotic, nonliving, factors
that affect the size of the
populations of organisms in
our biome
i. Sunlight
ii. Waves/current
iii. Temperature of water
iv. Rocks
1. sharpness
could kill
certain
organisms
v. Oxygen levels
vi. Salinity levels
vii. Boats
viii. Fishing
ix. Oil/Pollution
x. Rainfall
3. R & K Populations
a. R produces a lot of offspring
b. K produces little offspring
c. Dolphins
i. K
1. they usually produce one
calf as a time; twins are
rare
d. Clown Fish
i. R
1. they can produce any
where from 100 to 1,000
eggs at a time
e. Bull Shark
i. K
1. their gestation period is one year and they can have any where
from 1-13 pups per pregnancy
4. Symbiosis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljx_juQFf2Q
a. Commensalism
i. symbiotic relationship
where one organism
benefits but the other is
neither helped or harmed
1. Example 
whales and
barnacles. The
barnacle gets benefits because it gets to eat and receives protection
and the whale is not affected at all.
b. Mutualism
i. symbiotic relationship where both participants
benefit
1. Example  pilot fish and shark. The
pilot fish cleans the shark, so it gets
free food. The shark is benefited
because it gets cleaned.
c. Parasitism
i. symbiotic relationship where the parasite benefits at the expense of the
host by living either with in (endoparasite) or outside (ectoparasite)
1. Example  the blue whale has intestinal worms in them. The host
is affected because the worms harm them. This is an example of
endoparasitic.
5. Aposematic coloration  coloration used as defense techniques
a. Batesian Mimicry
i. a harmless species appears poisonous or
harmful to predators
1. Example  the Bluestreak cleaner
wrasse is a cleaner that learns to
mimic the organisms that it cleans
and then bites and tears a fin off of
the organism, completely taking it
by surprise.
b. Cryptic Coloration
i. camouflage making potential prey difficult to spot against its background
1. Example  the winter flounder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3ebL8pX4ZQ
c. Deceptive Markings
i. Marking used to throw off predators
1. Example  white-tip shark
Carcharhinus longimanus. The
marks aid in luring prey closer
to the shark.
d. Mullerian Mimicry
i. mutual mimicry between two organisms (they closely resemble each
other) of unpalatable (not tasteful)
ii. they benefit because when a predator learns to avoid one organism, they
tend to avoid the other organism that looks the same
1. Example  the organism ciprea. It lives in the ocean, and mimics
other organisms in order to be free of predators.
2. Not in our biome, but……. Monarch and Viceroy butterflies share
coloration patterns and display behavior