Aquatic animal
Aquatic animal
Longfin Sculpin (Jordania zonope)
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or
invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life.[1]
Some examples of invertebrates are cnidarians. This phylum consists
of jellyfish, anemones, corals, and hydras. Another type of
invertebrate aquatic animal is the annelids which are segmented
worms. There are three different classes they are polychaetes,
oligochaetes, and hirudinea.[2] It may breathe air or extract its
oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs
called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments
and the animals that live in them can be categorized as aquatic
(water) or terrestrial (land). Animals that move readily from water
to land and vice versa are referred to as amphibians. When animals
live in water, they have special adaptations to help them survive
in an aquatic habitat. The more time the animal spends in the water
the quicker they adapt to their new habitat. There are numerous
ways that an aquatic animal can adapt to their habitat.
The term aquatic can in theory be applied to animals that live
in either freshwater (freshwater animals) or saltwater (seawater
animals). However, the adjective marine is most commonly used for
animals that live in saltwater, i.e. in oceans, seas, etc. Invasive
aquatic animals require a water habitat, but do not necessarily
have to live entirely in water. Aquatic animals (especially
freshwater animals) are often of special concern to
conservationists because of the fragility of their environments.
Aquatic animals are subject to pressure from overfishing,
destructive fishing, marine pollution and climate change.
Aquatic plant
The flower of Nymphaea alba, a species of water lily
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic
environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to
as hydrophytes or macrophytes. These plants require special
adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's
surface. The most common adaptation is aerenchyma, but floating
leaves and finely dissected leaves are also common. Aquatic plants
can only grow in water or in soil that is permanently saturated
with water. They are therefore a common component of
wetlands.[4]The principal factor controlling the distribution of
aquatic plants is the depth and duration of flooding. However,
other factors may also control their distribution, abundance, and
growth form, including nutrients, disturbance from waves, grazing,
and salinity.[5]Aquatic vascular plants have originated on multiple
occasions in different plant families; they can be ferns or
angiosperms (including both monocots and dicots). Seaweeds are not
vascular plants; rather they are multicellular marine algae, and
therefore are not typically included among aquatic plants. A few
aquatic plants are able to survive in brackish, saline, and salt
water.[8] Examples are found in genera such as Thalassia and
Zostera. Although most aquatic plants can reproduce by flowering
and setting seed, many also have extensive asexual reproduction by
means of rhizomes, turions, and fragments in general.[9]Terrestrial
plant
Terrestrial plants
A terrestrial plant is a plant that grows on or in or from land.
Other types of plants are aquatic (living in water), epiphytic
(living on trees), lithophytes (living in or on rocks).
Non-terrestrial plantsAquatic plantsThe distinction between an
aquatic plant and a terrestrial plant is often blurred because of
the tendency for many aquatic species to have both submersed and
emersed forms and because many terrestrial plants are able to
tolerate periodic submersion. There are relatively few obligate
submersed aquatic plants, (i.e. species that cannot tolerate
emersion for even relatively short periods) but some examples
include members of Hydrocharitaceae and Cabombaceae, Ceratophyllum,
and Aldrovanda and most macroalgae (e.g. Chara and Nitella). Most
aquatic plants can, or prefer to, grow in the emersed form, and
most only flower in that form. Many terrestrial plants can tolerate
extended periods of inundation, and this is often part of the
natural habitat of the plant where flooding is common. These plants
(termed helophytes) tolerate extended periods of waterlogging
around the roots and even complete submersion under flood waters.
Growth rates of helophytes decrease significantly during these
periods of complete submersion and if water levels do not recede
the plant will ultimately decline and perish.
Terrestrial Animals
A geographical picture shows Japan at the East, China at the
West, Taiwan at the South, and the Korean Peninsula at the North of
Jeju. Seasonal transformations of migratory birds and insects have
been detected conspicuously. Restricted numbers of amphibian
reptiles and mammals, which lack migratory habits, have been
transformed as well.
Insects
The first announcement of insects of Jeju Island to the academic
world was made by Tatum (1847) in the "Description of New Species
of Carabus from Asia" in the Ann. Mag Nat. Hist 20:14-15. In it,
the Jeju ground beetle. Carabus monilifer (Same type but of a
different name from Carabus smaragdinus monilifer Tatum), of ground
beetle order ground beetle family, was reported to our academic
world for the first time. Distinctive insects in Jeju island are
comprised of 23 subtropical zone types, 47 frigid zone types, and
19 indigenous insects.
Amphibians / Reptiles
Amphibians and Reptiles of Jeju Island are the same as those of
the mainland. However, it is located in the extreme southern area
and there are many types of animals that live in this island since
it is located between the Korea mainland, Japan and China.
Amphibians confirmed by documentations and site surveys are
comprised of 4 orders and 5 families, and reptiles of 4 orders and
8 species (Table 5). Sibynophis chinensis is one type of reptile
that inhabits Jeju.
