Name: ____KEY_____
Section: A B C
Grade: _________ / 13 points
Quiz 4: Biogeography, Invertebrates, Midway’s Coral Reef Communities (+readings)
BIOE 163/OCEA 157
1. As you might remember from Finding Nemo, anemonefish (Amphiprion spp.) brood their eggs in a nest
near their anemone and release larvae that are only in the plankton for a week, a much shorter period
than most other coral reef fish. Which of the four reasons below is most likely to be the reason that
anemonefish are most species-rich in the IAA?
a. Vicariant events, such as temporary land barriers, caused rapid divergence and adaptive
radiations in the IAA. (for species that have short or no planktonic dispersal period)
b. Species from both the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean overlapped in the IAA.
c. Extensive areas in the IAA remained shallow marine habitats throughout changing sea levels in
the Pleistocene ice ages. (true, but more important for species that have longer planktonic
dispersal periods)
d. Equatorial currents carry reproductive propagules, such as larvae or seeds, away from the IAA.
(current go towards IAA)
2. The body of water that connected all tropical shallow marine habitats in the Cretaceous period (90 Ma)
is called the _____Tethys Sea_____. (2 points)
3. Which phrase does NOT describe the coral reefs of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, in comparison
to other reefs around the world?
a. High biomass of large predators & herbivores
c. Marginal latitude for coral reef
d. High degree of endemism
b. High coral diversity
4. ____Bioerosion_____ = removal of hard substrate by living organisms (2 points)
5. Circle the characteristic that territorial damselfishes and crown-of-thorns starfish share:
a. Eat coral
c. Foster high coral diversity
b. Eat algae
d. Foster high algal diversity
Territorial damselfish farm and eat algae. Crown-of-thorns starfish eat coral. However, both foster
high coral diversity. Territorial damselfish chase corallivores out of their territories and thus allow
recruits and coral in their territories to thrive. Crown-of-thorns starfish prefer to eat fast-growing
branching corals (competitive dominant species), so slow-growing corals may also survive, particularly if
only low density of COTS. (from Gulko reading)
6. Most sponges feed by ___filter-feeding___. (2 points)
7. ( T / F ) Wendy Cover recommended the large-scale removal of urchins because it would increase the
number of herbivorous fishes and is a cost-efficient way to increase coral cover.
Wendy said that large-scale removal of urchins is extremely expensive and may not result in the
increase of herbivorous fishes because herbivorous fishes and urchins eat different types of algae and
feed in different ways. She recommended removal of urchins only on small scales (coral transplants for
restoration, a coral bommy that is threatened by bioerosion).
8. Important routes of energy and/or material flow between seagrass meadows and other ecosystems
include all of the following EXCEPT:
a. Migrating waterfowl that feed in seagrass beds during part of their migration
b. Commuting fish that feed or take refuge in seagrass beds for only part of the day or year
c. Dugongs that form large foraging herds
d. Juvenile invertebrates and fishes that live in other habitats as adults
Information from Hogarth Chapter 7 (Seagrass organisms)
9. The figure depicts a change in the stable isotope ratio in the tissue of a mangrove snail, Terebralia
palustris, as it grows. This chart shows:
a. T. palustris snails eat more algae tissue as they grow larger
b. T. palustris snails eat more mangrove tissue as they grow larger
c. T. palustris snails eat more mangrove tissue when they are smaller
d. T. palustris snails never eat algae tissue.
From Hogarth Chapter 6 (Marine Mangrove Organisms) chapter, but also based on lecture
10. Crabs are important keystone species in mangal communities for all of the following reasons except:
a. They consume lots of leaf litter
b. They control macroalgae abundance
c. They consume reproductive propagules and contribute to mangrove zonation
d. They mix up and move sediment