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OCN 201 Eleventh Reading Discussion Questions

Marine Life and the Marine Environment I

Trujillo and Thurman - Chapter 12

12.1 What Are Living Things, and How Are They Classified?

1. List two methods used to classify living things.

A Working Definition of Life

2. Give a good working definition of life.

The Three Domains of Life

3. List the three domains of life. (Also see fig. 12.1)

4. Explain how eukaryotes are more structurally complex than bacteria and archaea.

5. Explain laterial gene transfer.

The Five Kingdoms of Organisms

6. List the five kingdoms. (Also see fig. 12.1)

7. List three types of monera.

8. Where do the few marine plant species live?

9. Where do most marine fungi live?

Linnaeus and Taxonomic Classificaton

10. Use table 12.1 to determine the kingdom, phylum, subphylum, class, order, family, genus, and species for homo sapiens (humans).

12.2 How Are Marine Organisms Classified?

11. List two methods to classify marine organisms.

Plankton

12. Define plankton. (Also see p. 526 and fig. 12.3)

13. Relate marine plankton to the Earth's total biomass.

14. Where do 98% of marine species live?

15. Define phytoplankton and zooplankton. (Also see p. 529 and p. 535)

16. Give an example of a marine phytoplankter and a marine zooplankter. (Also see fig.12.3)

17. Why was the importance of bacteria in the marine ecosystem underestimated until recently?

18. Contrast holoplankton and meroplankton. (Also see p. 524, p. 527, and fig. 12.4)

Nekton

19. Define nekton. (Also see p. 527)

20. Give an example of a marine nekton. (Also see fig. 12.5)

21. Explain why a fish cannot swim anywhere it wants in the ocean.

Benthos

22. Define benthos. (Also see p. 518)

23. Define epifauna. (Also see p. 522)

24. Give an example of a marine epifaunal organism. (Also see fig. 12.6)

25. Define infauna. (Also see p. 524)

26. Give an example of a marine infaunal organism. (Also see fig. 12.6)

27. Define nektobenthos. (Also see p. 527)

28. Give an example of a marine nektonbenthic organism.

29. Give the food sources for the deep-ocean benthos.