Mr. Conlan & Mr. Ludwig – Honors Marine Biology Midterm
Review Guide for 2016
Core – 90 points
90 M.C. questions
Addendum – 25 points
5 Short answers
Lab Practical – 25 points
25 Stations – Identification
Use this review guide to focus your studying. Start reviewing for the midterm as soon as you can.
Use your class notes, textbook notes, journals, and any other handouts you received in class.
Circle any questions you are unsure of and bring them to the review or ask them in class.
Introduction to Marine Biology
1. Why the water in the ocean called seawater and not just saltwater?
2. What is salinity? What are the units? How does the salt get into the water? How much
salt is in seawater? How do you figure it out?
3. Important properties of water.
4. What causes the tides?
5. Be able to read a tide chart. Know the following terms: ebb and flood
6. What type of tides does Long Island Sound have?
7. What is the difference between spring and neap tides?
8. Understand the relative position of the sun, moon & earth during the tidal cycle.
9. What is sessile mean? What are some examples of sessile organisms?
10. What is an infauna/epifauna organism? What is a nektonic organism?
11. What does a secchi disk measure? What are the units?
12. What units are used to measure dissolved oxygen levels?
13. In general, what are the steps of the taxonomic hierarchy (K, P, C, O, F, G, S)?
14. Know the important phylum’s, characteristics and examples of each.
15. Recognize a properly written scientific name.
16. Why are scientific names necessary?
Long Island Sound & Docks
1. Characteristics of estuaries. Important abiotic and biotic factors that affect organisms
living in this habitats.
2. Describe the formation of LIS.
3. What causes hypoxia in LIS? How is hypoxia measured? What are the units? Explain the
process in detail.
4. What are some major threats to Long Island Sound?
5. Why are euryhaline organisms perfect to live in estuaries?
6. How are floating docks and pilings different habitats for organisms?
7. What are the different ways sessile organisms obtain food?
8. How do sessile organisms populate new habitats?
9. Characteristics of dock communities and the common organisms that live there.
10. How do barnacles feed? What structure do they use to feed? What type feeder are they?
11. Know the different types of plankton – zooplankton and phytoplankton
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12. What might cause phytoplankton to bloom?
13. What are characteristics of chordates? Why do tunicates belong to this phylum?
14. Characteristics of sponges including anatomy, how they feed, reproduce.
15. Characteristics of Cnidarians – examples of major groups.
16. Life cycle of Cnidarians.
Salt Marsh
1. Characteristics of the salt marsh. Important abiotic and biotic factors that affect
organisms living in this habitat.
2. What physical factors create zonation patterns of plants in the salt marsh?
3. The value of salt marshes.
4. How do slat marsh plant deal with desiccation due to salt?
5. How do you tell the difference between Spartina patens, Spartina alterniflora?
6. What adaptations do salt marsh plants have to live in the salt marsh?
7. What process is happening in the salt marsh? Why does it smell?
8. Human influences have been shown to influence growth of Phragmites. What are some of
these influences?
9. In a food web, what are the roles? producers, consumers, etc.
Rocky Intertidal and Macroalgae
1. Characteristic of the rocky intertidal zone. Important abiotic and biotic factors that affect
organisms living in this habitat.
2. Zones of the Rocky Intertidal. What are the characteristics of each zone and organisms
and macroalage that lives there?
3. Adaptations organisms have for dealing with desiccation and wave action.
4. Why are seaweeds not considered true plants?
5. Why are macroalgae so common in rocky habitats?
6. What is an epiphyte?
7. The 3 phylum’s of macroalgae.
8. How are macroalgae classified into phyla?
9. Macroalgae adaptations to resist desiccation and deter grazing.
10. Study the anatomy of a typical seaweed like Fucus.
Arthropods
1. Characteristics of Phylum Arthropoda and examples that belong to this phylum.
2. What does arthropoda literally mean?
3. What is an exoskeleton? Why is it important?
4. How do you determine the gender of a crab?
5. Why do crustaceans molt?
6. Why are chelipeds so important to crustaceans?
7. General anatomy of arthropods.
8. What arthropod is a recent bio-invader and nuisance to Long Island Sound?
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Mudflat/Marine Worms/Mollusks
1. Characteristic of the mudflat. Important abiotic and biotic factors that affect organisms
living in this habitat.
2. What are three classes of Mollusks? Characteristics of each class and examples
3. What is the purpose of the shell, mantle, radula, and muscular foot for each class?
4. General anatomy of an oyster and squid.
5. What does an operculum and radula do for gastropods?
6. How are shellfish regulated in Greenwich?
7. Why are oyster considered ecological engineers?
8. What are the characteristics of the major worm phyla, how do they feed, and local
examples of each.
9. What are parapodia? What do they do for marine worms?
10. What is a proboscis? What marine worms have it and what it is used for?
Echinoderms
1. General Echinoderm characteristics and the 5 major classes and examples.
2. General anatomy of sea star, water vascular system, and aboral and oral surfaces.
3. What is a pedicellaria? What does it do for sea stars?
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