Marine Animal diversity and adaptation to life in the seas and ocean.

Introduction

Oceans and seas cover over 70% of the worlds surface, and allow some of the near productive environments on the planet (Michaelis & Carocci, 2000). There ar an estimated 300,000 know oceanic species and they represent more phyla than in planetal environments. flavor is unevenly distributed with areas of the deep oceans relatively void of liveliness compared to coastal regions. Species diversity is higher in coastal alternatively than oceanic regions, and higher in tropical regions than arctic and temerate zones (Andre, 2005). maritime environments provide a wide range of physical conditions that organisms encounter become highly adapted to. In coastal areas for example, some organisms are euryhaline and eurythermal withstanding the wide fluctuations of salinity and temperature in their environments. Pelagic species vitality in the water column are adapted for flotation The majority of species are benthic and have adapted to lie on the sea floor and sustain high pressures (CHAPTER 12, 2005; Doberski, 2005).

Adaptations to marine life across different phyla:

Phylum Chordata

Marine mammals, such as the bottlenose whale dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) show many adaptations to life in the water. As they originated from terrestrial environment they must come to the suface to breathe air.



Adaptations for this include having a blowhole with a strong valve which opens briefly ensuring no water enters the lungs, located on the top of their heads so that they raise breath whilst the rest of their body remains in the water. They riposte birth to precocious young that are able to feed to the surface to breath immediately and maintain homeostasis (ANON., Ocean Life; Dipper, 2005).

As water has a high viscosity and is hard to move through, dolphins have adapted a streamlined body shape, substitute the top layer of skin cells as often as every 2-4 hours helping to keep the...

If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



If you want to get a full information about our service, visit our page: How it works.