Squid Lab

Body Parts and Functions

Fin: Helps squid change direction when swimming

Mantle: Contains all internal organs

Chromatophores: Spots that change size in order to change squid's color for camouflage or possibly communication

Mantle and chromatophores

Pen: All that is left of the shell the squid's ancestor once had 

Eye: Well developed; allows them to see

Arm: Squid have 8 arms covered in suction cups.

Suction cups: Help the squid hold onto food

Tentacle: Longer than arms and only have suction cups on the tips; used to pass food to arms and then to mouth

Tentacles and arms

Suction cups

Gonad: Reproductive organ

Gills: Absorb oxygen from water

Heart: Circulates blood

Ink sac: Squid releases ink from this gland when it is in danger

Brain: Highly developed for an invertebrate

Siphon: Squirts out water so that the squid moves like a jet

Heart, ink sac, brain, and siphon

Beak: Takes in food; resembles a bird's beak

Evaluation

6 interesting facts:

1. When a squid is threatened, it releases a cloud of ink to confuse predators and give it a chance to escape.
2. Squid can be as small as a thumbnail or as large as a house.
3. Squid sometimes feed on their own kind.
4. About 6,000 metric tons of squid are taken yearly for human food and bait.
5. Female squid produce 10-50 elongated egg strings, which each contain hundreds of eggs.
6. In many species of squid, the parents will die soon after leaving the spawning ground.

The most disgusting part of the lab was how liquidy and smelly the squid was, but it was interesting to learn that the lenses from the eyes of larger squids were used by sailors as marbles. It was also fun (in a disgusting, yet entertaining sense) to remove the ink sac and paint with it. My least favorite part of the lab was that we did not get any gloves; it seemed a bit unsanitary. But overall, it was interesting to receive a fuller understanding of squids.

U.S. Navy

The presentation on the Navy helped increase my understanding of the ocean by providing an alternate view on its significance. Typically, I am most concerned with the biological aspects of the ocean and how to save it, but it was interesting to learn about the Navy's contribution to scientific research. Discovering more about the correlation between the Navy and science was definitely my favorite part, but I will always remember the speaker's positive attitude on being in the Navy.

Whale Identification

Whale flukes are used for identification because flukes have signature markings and are typically the easiest part of the whale to detect when it is sticking out of the water. Whale flukes can help scientists collect data on the habits of specific species of whales, as well as individual whales.

The most difficult part of the whale identification lab was matching darker flukes with less distinct markings. It might be helpful to print off the pictures in color and put the pictures in numerical order.

Overfishing

Fish is the main source of protein for over a billion people. As a result, the high demand for fish has led to the issue of overfishing. In order to keep up with the demand, trawling nets the size of four football fields are used to catch up too 500 tons of fish at a time. Much of the fish ends up going to waste.

There is an especially high demand for large fish. Stocks of large fish have fallen by 90%.

40% of the seafood demand is for farmed fish. Many of the farmed fish are carnivorous and eat smaller fish. This means that when a farmed fish is wasted, so are the several fish it consumed.

Overfishing is a severe issue because it impacts ocean ecosystems and depletes food sources. Though there may be enough fish to be wasted right now, this will not be the case in the future if the pattern continues. People who eat fish can help solve the problem of overfishing by eating smaller portions of fish and avoiding the consumption of endangered fish.

Coral Bleaching

Coral bleaching occurs when the water gets warmer and coral expels the zooxanthellae living in its tissues, causing it to turn white. after the coral bleaches, coral animals are replaced by algae, which serve as a short-term replacement for food. However, after an extended period of time, the basis of the food chains ends up being lost.

Coral bleaching is an issue because coral reefs provide food and shelter for many marine organisms. When the coral dies, so do he animals that depend on it.

Marine Debris

Plastic pellets:

• Plastic pellets are small, round pieces of plastic that are often mistaken for fish eggs, especially by birds. Birds feed plastic pellets and other plastic debris to their babies, leading to malnutrition and starvation.

Plastic rings: 

• Plastic rings can get caught around animals, leading to deformation, infection, and even death. Sometimes, plastic rings entangle animals when they are young, causing them to continue growing around it.

Monofilament:

• Improperly discarded monofilament can lead to entanglement and ghost fishing, which continues to catch and kill animals for years.

Plastic bags:

• Some animals mistake plastic bags for food. When they are floating in the water, they represent jellyfish, a favorite food for sea turtles. Consumption of plastic bags can lead to poisoning, suffocation, and starvation.

The problems caused by marine debris can be reduced by recycling plastic, cutting up plastic rings before disposal, and properly discarding of monofilament.

Puffer Fish

Common Names: Puffer fish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab

Scientific Name: Tetraodontidae

Adaptations: The puffer fish is fast, has excellent eyesight, has modified scales (spines), fills itself with water and puffs up when threatened, and contains a deadly poison called tetrodotoxin.

Hunting: Puffer fish are equipped with four large teeth to crush the shells of crustaceans and mollusks.

Reproduction: Spawning occurs when male puffers push females to the water's surface or join females already present. The spherical, buoyant eggs hatch after about four days.

Interesting Facts: 

1. Puffer fish, a delicacy in demand (fugu), can be lethal if not served properly.
2. Puffer fish are believed to be the second most venomous vertebrae in the world. Their toxin is a 100 times more potent than cyanide. 
3. The oldest known puffer fish genus is Eotetraodon. 

I researched this animal because it is interesting that something with an appearance so whimsical can be so lethal.

Sea Grasses

Adaptations: 

• Sea grasses are equipped with complex root-like structures called rhizomes, which spread under the sand and send up new shoots. Rhizomes help keep the sea grass anchored underwater.

• Sea grasses are flowering plants that reproduce via hydrochory; currents carry pollen and disperse their seeds.

Food:

• Most animals cannot feed directly on the sea grass and rely on detritus formed from decomposed sea grass leaves. However, animals such as manatees and sea turtles eat the sea grass directly.

Residents, Migrants, and Travelers:

• Permanent residents such as crustaceans and epiphytes are small organisms that live in or on the sea grass for their entire lives.

• Migrants, including a multitude of fish, migrate daily from the mangroves or reef to the sea grass beds.

• Travelers, also known as visitors, are larger animals like sea turtles, dolphins, and manatees that only visit the sea grass beds every once in a while.

Benefits of Sea Grasses

• Sea grasses provide a nursery for young animals, giving them a greater chance to survive into adulthood. The fishing industries relies on adult fish to make commerce.

• Migrants visit the sea grass beds and search the sea grass beds by day or night. Eating and sleeping in shifts reduces competition.

• Sea grasses filter sediment and toxins from the water before they reach the coral reef.

• Sea grass beds are a permanent residence for small organisms such as snails and crabs. They also serve as a critical habitat for many many marine animals; several organisms cannot live without them.

• Much of the food energy produced by sea grass communities is taken away to both mangroves and the coral reef, transferring energy and nutrients.

Marine Debris Video

http://oceantoday.noaa.gov/marinedebris/

Marine debris is any manufactured solid material that ends up in the marine environment. Though many think that marine debris is the trash that washes up on the beach, there is also a lot of trash that remains unseen. The pollution caused by marine debris can lead to entanglement, suffocation, and starvation. Humans can reduce and prevent marine debris pollution by reducing, reusing, and recycling.

I like this video because it focuses on all aspects of the hazards of marine debris and offers a solution on how to prevent the further endangerment of aquatic life. I chose this video because it relates to ocean pollution, which we have been recently discussing in class.

Pollution

• Monofilament: Monofilament is thin, durable, nearly invisible fishing line that is often used by anglers. When it is improperly discarded, it can accumulate in popular fishing areas and tangle around boat propellers and marine animals.

• Entanglement: Hundreds of thousands of animals are killed annually when they become tangled in plastic debris.

• Plastic bags: Plastic bags resemble jellyfish, a common meal for sea turtles. Ingesting plastic bags can lead to suffocation or starvation.

• Ghost fishing: Ghost fishing is the term used to describe abandoned fishing gear trapping aquatic life. Abandoned fishing line can continue to trap marine animals for many years.

• Plastic pellets: Plastic pellets suck up a range of persistent organic pollutants and other toxins. They are often found in the stomachs of sea creatures. Scientists believe that some animals may actively seek plastic pellets because they resemble fish eggs. They are often 

Benefits of Mangroves

• Nursery: The tangled roots of the red mangrove provide a protective nursery for young marine animals and help them survive into adulthood. This is very important to the fishing industry.

• Nutrients: Mangrove leaves are broken down by decomposers into detritus, which provides nutrients for animals living in the mud and water around the mangrove roots.

• Sediment: The mangrove roots trap and filter sediment as it flows from river to sea, clearing the water and contributing to soil formation.

• Toxins: The mangroves filter toxins from the water before it enters the sea.

• Buffer system: Mangrove buffer zones keep the environment intact by providing a corridor for animals to migrate. they also help protect homes from winds, waves, and tides.

• Ecosystem corridor: This allows animals to migrate and protect themselves from predators.

Mangrove Adaptations

1. Red mangroves have prop roots to help anchor them in the loose mud and protect them from strong winds, waves, and tides.

2. Black mangroves have pneumatophores, vertical shoots that spring up all around the base of the tree and bring oxygen to the rest of the root.

3. Rather than being dispersed immediately, mangrove seeds begin to grow roots while still attached to the tree. The germinated seeds, propagules, take root quickly once they are dropped by the parent tree.

4. Mangrove leaves have a thick, waxy coating called a cuticle that helps hold in water.

5. Mangrove leaves are equipped with salt pores to get rid of excess salt.