the ocean depths! (1) wooooo - boogey - boogey!. areas of the deep sea
TRANSCRIPT
How Surface Water Masses Reach The Bottom
near Greenland
Near the Antarctic
“Thermohaline Circulation”
Deep Sea Life Is Closely Correlated With Plankton Abundance And Light Intensity
Bottom of Mesopelagic Zone – No Light exists
here
Thermocline
Mesopelagic Squid Showing Photophores
Photophores, or light organs, are characteristic of many animals in the mesopelagic – they are active
in bioluminescence
Typical Mesopelagic Fishes
hatchetfishlanternfish
longnose
lancetfish
pacific viperfish
barracudina
dragonfish
Adaptations of Mesopelagic Fishes
Small body size – limited food supply Large mouths hinged to disarticulate Generalized omnivores with abundant, long,
sharp teeth Feeding habits – migrators and non-migrators Sense organs – tubular eyes with 2 retinas; well-
developed lateral lines
Adaptations Con’t.: Coloration and Body Shape
Countershading Transparency – especially in upper areas
of mesopelagic Lateral compression of the body Photophores and Bioluminescence
Convergent Evolution of Tubular Eyes in Mesopelagic Organisms
Midwater fish - Scopelarchus
Deep-Sea Octopus
Krill – bilobed eye
Below the Mesopelagic – The World of Perpetual Darkness
Below this zone which stops at about 1,000 meters is the:
Bathypelagic - 1,000 to 4,000 meters Abyssopelagic - 4,000 to 6,000 meters Hadopelagic – below 6,000 meters and
into the trenches
The Problem Of Finding A Mate …
Produce light ! (bioluminescence) Produce an odor ! (pheromones) Be a parasite and attach to the other sex ! Be a hermaphrodite and say “to heck with
it” !