Biology of Coral Reefs Exam Study Guide Objective 1 Intro to biology of coral reefs 1 What ways are coral reefs extreme Large enough to see from space Largest structures Most diversity 2 How are they important to humans Protect coastlines from storm waves Pharmaceutically useful chemicals Fish shellfish aquarium fish and corals Building materials Tourism 3 Environmental requirements of corals and how they constrain geographic distribution of reefs built by corals Clear tropical water above 20 degrees Celsius subtropical tropic seas sunlight required and normal salinity 4 Why are corals part animal plant and rock 5 Other animals closely related to corals what are characteristics they share Sea anemones hydras and jellyfish Cnidarians Basic sac like design mouth that opens into the gastrovascular cavity Have nematocysts 6 2 ways which reef building corals acquire food relative importance to corals Use tentacles to capture plankton Zooxanthellae single celled plants within tissues they produce their own food from sunlight 7 How living in a colony influence patterns of growth and overall shape Corals build calcium carbonate skeletons which each polyp creates for itself called corallite 8 Stages of coral life cycle both sexual and asexual Sexual eggs and sperm produced by different colonies sperm released into water and taken in by female colonies fertilizing eggs that remain in female polyps Mass spawning simultaneous release of eggs and sperm into water column Asexual growth by budding of polyps to produce more polyps Objective 2 Diversity of life on coral reefs 1 Species diversity on coral reefs compare with other ecosystems More diverse than any other ecosystem 35 000 60 000 species Many unknown species 2 How is info about the thousands of species on reefs organized and how can we retrieve it Hierarchical system categories based on evolutionary relationships among organisms Genus and species Communication around the world Published info Characteristics of related species 3 Characteristics contribute to most fundamental division of life into prokaryotes and eukaryotes Prokaryote cells very small Circular DNA molecules no membranes organizing different functions of each cell Divided between 2 domains bacteria and archae Eukaryote cells larger and complex Each cell contains organelles mini organ systems 1 domain Eukaryote and 4 kingdoms Protista single celled Fungi plants and animals multi celled 4 Importance of cyanobacteria to coral reefs Blue green algae Photosynthetic organism in all marine habitats 5 How 4 kingdoms of eukaryotes distinguished from each other a Kingdom Protista single cell many parasites i Phylum Dinoflagellate dinoflagellates are single celled photosynthetic organisms Most abundant phytoplankton b Kingdom Plantae Green pigment chlorophyll is capable of collecting energy from sunlight Make their own food i Division Chlorophyta green algae shallow water because the red light wavelengths are unable to penetrate far into the water ii Division Rhodophyta red algae Contain pigments that allow energy collection from green violet and blue wavelengths Live deeper Look like feathery bushes iii Division Phaeophyta brown algae Giant kelps inhabit cold nutrient rich water iv Division Magnoliophyta Angiosperms flowering plants live on land Soak nutrients through roots Seagrasses and mangrove trees live in water c Kingdom Animalia multicellular organism unable to make own food i Vertebrate 1 hollow nerve cord 2 gill slits 3 notochord 4 a tail ii Phylum Porifera sponges Pump water through holes filters bacteria simple and homogenous flexible regenerate from tiny fragments d Kingdom Fungi 6 Important differences among photosynthetic eukaryotic organism in where they live in sea and acquire nutrients Multicellular algae have no roots unable to soak nutrients Must live in water they soak up nutrients from surrounding water 7 Distinguishing characteristics of each of 6 phyla of invertebrate animals and the phylum with both invertebrate and vertebrate animals that are conspicuously represented on coral reefs Phylum Porifera sponges pump water through holes filters bacteria Simplest and homogeneous flexible regenerate from tiny fragments Soft bodies good nitrogen source protection with chemicals Phylum Cnidarian sea anemones corals jellyfish Mouth with tentacles opens into simple sac like gut Radial symmetry Phylum Annelida segmented worms Bilateral symmetry head end and tail end Segments Phylum Mollusca clams oysters scallops snails Mollusks all have muscular foot Quality protein Phylum Arthropoda crabs lobsters shrimps barnacles Jointed appendages exoskeletons that they shed in order to grow Bilateral symmetry Phylum Echinodermata sea urchins starfish cucumbers Bit of calcium carbonate in skin pentadrdial symmetry radial Tube feet Calcareous bits embedded in skin Closest to humans Phylum Chordata sea squirts fishes turtles birds mammals Simple sacs incurrent hole water enters Toxic materials Objective 3 Food on coral reefs 1 Different strategies used on coral reefs by swimming or drifting predators and by bottom dwelling predators to capture and consume animals Swimming and drifting predators Fishes mouths provide clues about prey Triggerfish have small mouths and eyes in back which allows them to nip spines off sea urchins without getting poked in eye Long mouth able to get into holes for preys Most moving Bottom dwelling predators Camouflage Capture prey using specialized appendages Claws 2 How do various coral reef herbivores feed Eat a huge amount eat 10 times more than they need to Damselfishes maintain algal gardens in territories Each damselfish protects its area 3 How do filter feeding deposit feeding symbiotic microbe s work as food gathering mechanisms which organism feed this way Filter Feeding Spiders and carnivorous plants Capture zoox from water with tentacles Deposit Feeding Ingest sediment digest organic portions and pass the remainder by far the bulk of the sediment right back out again Symbiotic Microbes Photosynthetic protists and bacteria living in their tissues are required nutritional partners for many coral reef organisms 4 Defenses against being eaten have been developed by coral reef animals and plants Deterrent morphology such as spines spicules and thick shells Toxic chemistry is popular for defense of soft bodied organisms Camouflage effective hiding places 5 How plants and animals differ in defending themselves Animals can move while plants cannot
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