The Ocean Depths! (1)
Wooooo - Boogey - Boogey!
Areas of the Deep Sea
How Surface Water Masses Reach The Bottom
near Greenland
Near the Antarctic
“Thermohaline Circulation”
The Great Ocean Conveyor Belt
The Mesopelagic
The Twilight Zone
Deep Sea Life Is Closely Correlated With Plankton Abundance And Light Intensity
Bottom of Mesopelagic Zone – No Light exists
here
Thermocline
The Mesopelagic – Home Of The Oxygen Minimum Zone
Mesopelagic
Food Sources in the Deep Sea
A Few Mesopelagic Critters …
Mesopelagic Crustaceans
krillOpossum
shrimp
true (decapod) shrimp
A Very Large Ostracod or Seed Shrimp – This One is 1 cm in
Length
Mesopelagic Squid Showing Photophores
Photophores, or light organs, are characteristic of many animals in the mesopelagic – they are active
in bioluminescence
Vampire Squid Exhibiting Photophores
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
Bioluminescent Mesopelagic Fish
Mesopelagic Fishes – Vertical Migrators vs. Non-Migrators
Lanternfishes Dragonfishes
An Adaptation for Large Prey – Hinged Jaws!
Opportunists of the Deep
Viper fish Rattrap fish
Convergent Evolution of Tubular Eyes in Mesopelagic Organisms
Midwater fish - Scopelarchus
Deep-Sea Octopus
Krill – bilobed eye
The Field Of Vision Of A Typical Mesopelagic Fish
Having Photophores Is Adaptive !
Squid Without Photophores
Squid With Photophores
Cross-Section of a Krill’s Photophore
The Ocean Depths! (2)
Wooooo - Boogey - Boogey!
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 Bathypelagic – Home Of Perpetual Darkness
Mesopelagic
Bathypelagic
(upper reaches)
Adaptations of Deep-Sea Pelagic Fishes
An Anglerfish
Adaptations In Two Closely Related Bristlemouth Fishes
Some Deep-Sea Fishes
Anglerfish
Note very small, parasitic male
Swallower
Gulper
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” !
Fish Life On the Floor
The Deep Ocean Floor
Characteristics Of Fish From Different Depths Of The Pelagic
Anatomy Of The Giant Hydrothermal-Vent Tube Worm
Sampling Methods for the Mesopelagic and Beyond …
A Remote-Controlled Midwater Trawl
The Chambered Nautilus – A Relic Species From The Past