tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7307679764762102842024-02-18T21:22:11.223-08:00Redplankton.plengdut.com: Ocean & The Sea Online Knowledge LibraryOcean Blog about living things at the sea and global ocean world.irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-45558093928826425852020-05-25T18:13:00.000-07:002020-05-25T18:13:18.111-07:00Coastal Ecosystems Border the Oceans <div style="text-align: justify;">Salt marshes, discussed previously, and also mudflats and mangrove swamps, featured in Figure 1, are ecosystems that occur at a delta. Mangrove swamps develop in subtropical and tropical zones, while marshes and mudflats occur in temperate zones. These ecosystems are often designated as an estuary. So are coastal bays, fjords (an inlet of water between high cliffs), and some lagoons (a body of water separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land). Therefore, the term estuary has a very broad defi nition. An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water where fresh water and seawater meet and mix as a river enters the oceans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Organisms living in an estuary must be able to withstand constant mixing of waters and rapid changes in salinity. But those organisms adapted to the estuarine environment fi nd an abundance of nutrients. An estuary acts as a nutrient trap because the sea prevents the rapid escape of nutrients brought by a river. As the result of usually warm, calm waters and plentiful nutrients, estuaries are biologically diverse and highly productive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Phytoplankton and shore plants thrive in the nutrient- rich estuaries, providing an abundance of food and habitat for animals. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of marine fishes and shellfish spawn and develop in the protective and rich environment of estuaries, making the estuarine environment the nursery of the sea. An abundance of larval, juvenile, and mature fish and shellfish attract a number of predators, such as reptiles, birds, and fishes of various types.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Rocky shores (Fig. 1) and sandy shores are con- stantly bombarded by the sea as the tides roll in and out. The intertidal zone lies between the high- and low-tide marks (Fig. 2). In the upper portion of the intertidal zone, barnacles are glued so tightly to the stone by their own secretions that their calcareous outer plates remain in place, even after the enclosed shrimp like animal dies. In the midportion of the intertidal zone, brown algae, known as rockweed, may overlie the barnacles. Below the intertidal zone, macroscopic seaweeds, which are the main photosynthesizers, anchor themselves to the rocks by holdfasts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9VaTMmgjr-kZFF7WNhW6neAWOh2DXS1IGMjZv33kG4S7pkHjwfmUxAEEJpUGVJGey6CjxW1z_6e0yYdIzyuv471bOqdEqlC0OXwREbc6QG5Pg0gfWLfuzgrZZq3oS8DkGiBX7_bM1xaa/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="FIGURE 1 Coastal ecosystems. a. Mudflats are frequented by migrant birds. b. Mangrove swamps skirt the coastlines of many tropical and subtropical lands. c. Some organisms of a rocky coast live in tidal pools." border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="905" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu9VaTMmgjr-kZFF7WNhW6neAWOh2DXS1IGMjZv33kG4S7pkHjwfmUxAEEJpUGVJGey6CjxW1z_6e0yYdIzyuv471bOqdEqlC0OXwREbc6QG5Pg0gfWLfuzgrZZq3oS8DkGiBX7_bM1xaa/w640-h340/2020-05-26_7-58-39.png" title="FIGURE 1 Coastal ecosystems. a. Mudflats are frequented by migrant birds. b. Mangrove swamps skirt the coastlines of many tropical and subtropical lands. c. Some organisms of a rocky coast live in tidal pools." width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">FIGURE 1 Coastal ecosystems. a. Mudflats are frequented by migrant birds. b. Mangrove swamps skirt the coastlines of many tropical and subtropical lands. c. Some organisms of a rocky coast live in tidal pools.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QVdbbqZdV7caDXBvzpvrxwSsfXAhM5sRhieM8vlqXYvR1fCTEnRcuHgkJGyM6TMAcvVCZHQzpWle2pyjaq4oAoE61Q2ZH_JqWAic7dOmKOkBU-rdrfDFj-8__IrJcixOHAGTV5EX2QSN/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="FIGURE 2 Ocean ecosystems. Organisms live in the well-lit waters of the euphotic zone and in the increasing darkness of the deep-sea waters of the pelagic zones (see Figure 3)." border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="645" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QVdbbqZdV7caDXBvzpvrxwSsfXAhM5sRhieM8vlqXYvR1fCTEnRcuHgkJGyM6TMAcvVCZHQzpWle2pyjaq4oAoE61Q2ZH_JqWAic7dOmKOkBU-rdrfDFj-8__IrJcixOHAGTV5EX2QSN/w640-h520/2020-05-26_8-01-48.png" title="FIGURE 2 Ocean ecosystems. Organisms live in the well-lit waters of the euphotic zone and in the increasing darkness of the deep-sea waters of the pelagic zones (see Figure 3)." width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">FIGURE 2 Ocean ecosystems. Organisms live in the well-lit waters of the euphotic zone and in the increasing darkness of the deep-sea waters of the pelagic zones (see Figure 3).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Organisms cannot attach themselves to shifting, unstable sands on a sandy beach; therefore, nearly all the permanent residents dwell underground. They either burrow during the day and surface to feed at night, or they remain permanently within their burrows and tubes. Ghost crabs and sandhoppers (amphipods) burrow themselves above the high-tide mark and feed at night when the tide is out. Sandworms and sand (ghost) shrimp remain within their burrows in the intertidal zoneand feed on detritus whenever possible. Still lower in thesand, clams, cockles, and sand dollars are found. A variety of shorebirds visit the beaches and feed on variousinvertebrates and fishes.</div><h1 style="text-align: justify;">Oceans</h1><div style="text-align: justify;">Shallow ocean waters (called the euphotic zone) contain a greater concentration of organisms than the rest of the sea (see Fig. 2). Here, phytoplankton, (i.e., algae) is food not only for zooplankton (i.e., protozoans and microscopic animals) but also for small fishes. These attract a number of predatory and commercially valuable fishes. On the continental shelf, seaweed can be found growing, even on outcroppings as the water gets deeper. Clams, worms, and sea urchins are preyed upon by sea stars, lobsters, crabs, and brittle stars.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Coral reefs are areas of biological abundance just be- low the surface in shallow, warm, tropical waters. Their chief constituents are stony corals, animals that have a calcium carbonate (limestone) exoskeleton, and calcareous red and green algae. Corals provide a home for microscopic algae called zooxanthellae. The corals, which feed at night, and the algae, which photosynthesize during the day, are mutualistic and share materials and nutrients. The algae need sunlight, and this may be the reason coral reefs form only in shallow, sunlit waters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A reef is densly populated with life. The large number of crevices and caves provide shelter for fi lter feeders (sponges, sea squirts, and fanworms) and for scavangers (crabs and sea urchins). The barracuda, moray eel, and shark are top predators in coral reefs. There are many types of small, beautifully colored fishes. These become food for larger fishes, including snappers that are caught for human consumption.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most of the ocean lies within the pelagic zones, as noted in Figure 3. The epipelagic zone lacks the inorganic nutrients of shallow waters, and therefore it does not have as high a concentration of phytoplankton, even though the surface is sunlit. Still, the photosynthesizers are food for a large assembly of zooplankton, which then become food for schools of various fishes. A number of porpoise and dolphin species visit and feed in the epipelagic zone. Whales, too, are mammals found in this zone. Baleen whales strain krill (small crustaceans) from the water, and toothed sperm whales feed primarily on the common squid.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDI-U60zt4UkWgSw_dYTsOA1tOR_2c9bUCkMliJjW8t6BZY3O6mKiObE-o_jJEyIB_FtMrAavpQ-hDMfpAGnO4iLPXQ73LRYpCjSBel6U63jGlCtkrhzKagZDrtVgyUsU3uKzHrAM6RPO/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="FIGURE 3 Ocean inhabitants of pelagic zones. Different organisms are characteristic of the epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic zones." border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="376" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDI-U60zt4UkWgSw_dYTsOA1tOR_2c9bUCkMliJjW8t6BZY3O6mKiObE-o_jJEyIB_FtMrAavpQ-hDMfpAGnO4iLPXQ73LRYpCjSBel6U63jGlCtkrhzKagZDrtVgyUsU3uKzHrAM6RPO/w440-h640/2020-05-26_2-05-44.png" title="FIGURE 3 Ocean inhabitants of pelagic zones. Different organisms are characteristic of the epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic zones." width="440" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">FIGURE 3 Ocean inhabitants of pelagic zones. Different organisms are characteristic of the epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic zones.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Animals in the deeper waters of the mesopelagic zone are carnivores, which are adapted to the absence of light, and tend to be translucent, red colored, or even luminescent. There are luminescent shrimps, squids, and fishes, including lantern and hatchet fishes. Various species of zooplankton, invertebrates, and fishes migrate from the mesopelagic zone to the surface to feed at night.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The deepest waters of the bathypelagic zone are in com- plete darkness except for an occasional flash of bioluminescent light. Carnivores and scavengers are found in this zone. Strange looking fishes with distensible mouths and abdomens and small, tubular eyes feed on infrequent prey.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It once was thought that few vertebrates exist on the abyssal plain beneath the bathypelagic zone because of the intense pressure and the extreme cold. Yet, many invertebrates survive there by feeding on debris floating down from the mesopelagic zone. Sea lilies (crinoids) rise above the seafloor; sea cucumbers and sea urchins crawl around on the sea bottom; and tube worms burrow in the mud.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The flat abyssal plain is interrupted by enormous underwater mountain chains called oceanic ridges. Along the axes of the ridges, crustal plates spread apart, and molten magma rises to fi ll the gap. At hydrothermal vents, seawater percolates through cracks and is heated to about 350°C, causing sulfate to react with water and form hydrogen sulfi de (H2S). Chemoautotrophic bacteria that obtain energy from oxidizing hydrogen sulfi de exist freely or mutualistically within the tissues of organisms. They are the start of food chains for an ecosystem that includes huge tube worms, clams, crustaceans, echinoderms, and fishes. This ecosystem can exist where light never penetrates because, unlike photosynthesis, chemo synthesis does not require light energy.</div><h1 style="text-align: justify;">Ocean Currents </h1><div style="text-align: justify;">Climate is driven by the sun, but the oceans play a major role in redistributing heat in the biosphere. Water tends to be warm at the equator and much cooler at the poles because of the distribution of the sun’s rays, as discussed earlier. Air takes on the temperature of the water below, and warm air moves from the equator to the poles. In other words, the oceans make the winds blow. (Landmasses also play a role, but the oceans hold heat longer and remain cool longer during periods of changing temperature than do continents.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When wind blows strongly and steadily across a great expanse of ocean for a long time, friction from the moving air begins to drag the water along with it. Once the water has been set in motion, its momentum, aided by the wind, keeps it moving in a steady flow called a current. Because the ocean currents eventually strike land, they move in a circular path— clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere (Fig. 4). As the currents flow, they take warm water from the equator to the poles. One such current, called the Gulf Stream, brings tropical Caribbean water to the east coast of North America and the higher latitudes of western Europe. Without the Gulf Stream, Great Britain, which has a relatively warm temperature, would be as cold as Greenland. In the Southern Hemisphere, another major ocean current warms the eastern coast of South America.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEico1SHVFUxthhgO_DE21FVJ_rKQuJ9KY8dXPcMup7DyZ3NH4iP02DxVY67eDe0uaHz7Zsg2u3RJNIyDUU-iaAdqyEbrIj5N7X8aJMq4kSRJMpnsDRK7yiv1i8apvNVY83fOUDtDEEheCax/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="FIGURE 4 Ocean currents. The arrows on this map indicate the locations and directions of the major ocean currents set in motion by the global wind circulation. By carrying warm water to cool latitudes (e.g., the Gulf Stream) and cool water to warm latitudes (e.g., the Humboldt Current), these currents have a major effect on the world’s climates." border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="949" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEico1SHVFUxthhgO_DE21FVJ_rKQuJ9KY8dXPcMup7DyZ3NH4iP02DxVY67eDe0uaHz7Zsg2u3RJNIyDUU-iaAdqyEbrIj5N7X8aJMq4kSRJMpnsDRK7yiv1i8apvNVY83fOUDtDEEheCax/w640-h344/2020-05-26_7-46-13.png" title="FIGURE 4 Ocean currents. The arrows on this map indicate the locations and directions of the major ocean currents set in motion by the global wind circulation. By carrying warm water to cool latitudes (e.g., the Gulf Stream) and cool water to warm latitudes (e.g., the Humboldt Current), these currents have a major effect on the world’s climates." width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">FIGURE 4 Ocean currents. The arrows on this map indicate the locations and directions of the major ocean currents set in motion by the global wind circulation. By carrying warm water to cool latitudes (e.g., the Gulf Stream) and cool water to warm latitudes (e.g., the Humboldt Current), these currents have a major effect on the world’s climates.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also in the Southern Hemisphere, a current called the Humboldt Current flows toward the equator. The Humboldt Current carries phosphorus-rich cold water northward along the west coast of South America. During a process called upwelling, cold offshore winds cause cold nutrient-rich waters to rise and take the place of warm nutrient-poor waters. In South America, the enriched waters cause an abundance of marine life that supports the fisheries of Peru and northern Chile. Birds feeding on these organisms deposit their droppings on land, where they are mined as guano, a commercial source of phosphorus. When the Humboldt Current is not as cool as usual, upwelling does not occur, stagnation results, the fisheries decline, and climate patterns change globally. This phenomenon, which is discussed in the Ecology Focus on page 885, is called an El Niño–Southern Oscillation.</div>irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-756258837433113332016-06-06T21:02:00.000-07:002017-02-20T18:20:25.629-08:00Prokaryotic Cell Structure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Prokaryotic cells are about 10 times smaller than eukaryotic cells. A typical E. coli cell is about 1 μm wide and 2 to 3μm long. Structurally, prokaryotes are very simple cells when compared with eukaryotic cells, and yet they are able to perform the necessary processes of life. Reproduction of prokaryotic cells is by binary fission—the simple division of one cell into two cells, after DNA replication and the formation of a separating membrane and cell wall. All bacteria are prokaryotes, as are the archaea.<br />
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Embedded within the cytoplasm of prokaryotic cells are a chromosome, ribosomes, and other cytoplasmic particles (Fig. 1). Unlike eukaryotic cells, the cytoplasm of prokaryotic cells is not filled with internal membranes. The cytoplasm is surrounded by a cell membrane, a cell wall (usually), and sometimes a capsule or slime layer. These latter three structures make up the bacterial cell envelope. Depending on the particular species of bacterium, flagella, pili (description follows), or both may be observed outside the cell envelope, and a spore may sometimes be seen within the cell.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOJ4BZp_2Uki2GNSwLRNLy4HUcpjla1Bc2kxapTgnhlgJeJ_Q11evGbAPzAKfTIFa2I4Vz_x87c0cTXkHNH4h2CUS71yUcjlGjU45iNohdNa9UdPDzUii-t7eJZpl9zCEcF38M6nlaguX/s1600/2016-06-06_220717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A typical prokaryotic cell." border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOJ4BZp_2Uki2GNSwLRNLy4HUcpjla1Bc2kxapTgnhlgJeJ_Q11evGbAPzAKfTIFa2I4Vz_x87c0cTXkHNH4h2CUS71yUcjlGjU45iNohdNa9UdPDzUii-t7eJZpl9zCEcF38M6nlaguX/s400/2016-06-06_220717.jpg" title="A typical prokaryotic cell." width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.1:</b> A typical prokaryotic cell.</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Cell Membrane</h3>
Capsule Ribosomes Cytoplasm Enclosing the cytoplasm of a prokaryotic cell is the cell membrane (also known as the plasma, cytoplasmic, or cellular membrane). This membrane is similar in structure and function to the eukaryotic cell membrane. Chemically, the cell membrane consists of proteins and phospholipids. Being selectively permeable, the membrane controls which substances may enter or leave the cell. It is flexible and so thin that it cannot be seen with a compound light microscope. However, it is frequently observed in transmission electron micrographs of bacteria.<br />
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Many enzymes are attached to the cell membrane, and various metabolic reactions take place there. Some scientists believe that inward foldings of the cell membranes—called mesosomes—are where cellular respiration takes place in bacteria. This process is similar to that which occurs in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells, in which nutrients are broken down to produce energy in the form of ATP molecules. On the other hand, some scientists think that mesosomes are nothing more than artifacts created during the processing of bacterial cells for electron microscopy.<br />
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In cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic bacteria (bacteria that convert light energy into chemical energy), infoldings of the cell membrane contain chlorophyll and other pigments that serve to trap light energy for photosynthesis. However, prokaryotic cells do not have complex internal membrane systems similar to the ER and Golgi complex of eukaryotic cells. Prokaryotic cells do not contain any membrane-bound organelles or vesicles.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Chromosome </h3>
The prokaryotic chromosome usually consists of a single, long, supercoiled, circular DNA molecule, which serves as the control center of the bacterial cell. It is capable of duplicating itself, guiding cell division, and directing cellular activities. A prokaryotic cell contains neither nucleoplasm nor a nuclear membrane. The chromosome is suspended or embedded in the cytoplasm. The DNA-occupied space within a bacterial cell is sometimes referred to as the bacterial nucleoid.<br />
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The thin and tightly folded chromosome of E. coli is about 1.5 mm (1,500 μm) long and only 2 nm wide. Because a typical E. coli cell is about 2 to 3 μm long, its chromosome is approximately 500 to 750 times longer than the cell itself—quite a packaging feat! Bacterial chromosomes contain between 575 and 55,000 genes, depending on the species. Each gene codes for one or more gene products (enzymes, other proteins, and rRNA and tRNA molecules). In comparison, the chromosomes within a human cell contain between 20,000 and 25,000 genes.<br />
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Small, circular molecules of double-stranded DNA that are not part of the chromosome (referred to as extra-chromosomal DNA or plasmids) may also be present in the cytoplasm of prokaryotic cells (Fig. 2). A plasmid may contain anywhere from fewer than 10 genes to several hundred genes. A bacterial cell may not contain any plasmids, or it may contain one plasmid, multiple copies of the same plasmid, or more than one type of plasmid (i.e., plasmids containing different genes). Plasmids have also been found in yeast cells.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiUuubTkDWubOwhQcnAvdWsuGgrSUNEkEdCzxJIvRdz28gw-1fiWW8SviZ7zb5oJ08s8CCrT2qDPhBlyfp2xMLx94YykLZPAkq4LlezjT2A232WzzYBiBcW5r-VX4MRLjQSIklteKmAmI/s1600/2016-06-06_221555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A typical bacterial genome. The hypothetical bacterial cell illustrated here possesses a chromosome containing 3,000 genes and a plasmid containing 5 to 100 genes. (Redrawn from Harvey RA et al. Lippincott’s Illustrated Reviews. Microbiology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)" border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiUuubTkDWubOwhQcnAvdWsuGgrSUNEkEdCzxJIvRdz28gw-1fiWW8SviZ7zb5oJ08s8CCrT2qDPhBlyfp2xMLx94YykLZPAkq4LlezjT2A232WzzYBiBcW5r-VX4MRLjQSIklteKmAmI/s400/2016-06-06_221555.jpg" title="A typical bacterial genome. The hypothetical bacterial cell illustrated here possesses a chromosome containing 3,000 genes and a plasmid containing 5 to 100 genes. (Redrawn from Harvey RA et al. Lippincott’s Illustrated Reviews. Microbiology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.2:</b> A typical bacterial genome. The hypothetical bacterial cell illustrated here possesses a chromosome containing 3,000 genes and a plasmid containing 5 to 100 genes. (Redrawn from Harvey RA et al. Lippincott’s Illustrated Reviews. Microbiology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Cytoplasm </h3>
The semiliquid cytoplasm of prokaryotic cells consists of water, enzymes, dissolved oxygen (in some bacteria), waste products, essential nutrients, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids a complex mixture of all the materials required by the cell for its metabolic functions. There is some evidence to suggest that bacterial cytoplasm contains a cytoskeletal structure similar to that of eukaryotic cells.<br />
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<b><i>Beware of similar sounding words</i></b> - A plasmid is a small, circular molecule of double-stranded DNA. It is referred to as extrachromosomal DNA because it is not part of the chromosome. Plasmids are found in most bacteria. A plastid is a cytoplasmic organelle, found only in certain eukaryotic cells (e.g., algae and plants). Plastids are the sites of photosynthesis.<br />
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Cytoplasmic Particles Within the bacterial cytoplasm, many tiny particles have been observed. Most of these are ribosomes, often occurring in clusters called polyribosomes or polysomes (poly meaning many). Prokaryotic ribosomes are smaller than eukaryotic ribosomes, but their function is the same—they are the sites of protein synthesis. A 70S prokaryotic ribosome is composed of a 30S subunit and a 50S subunit. It has been estimated that there are about 15,000 ribosomes in the cytoplasm of an E. coli cell.<br />
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Cytoplasmic granules occur in certain species of bacteria. These may be stained by using a suitable stain, and then identified microscopically. The granules may consist of starch, lipids, sulfur, iron, or other stored substances.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Bacterial Cell Wall </h3>
The rigid exterior cell wall that defines the shape of bacterial cells is chemically complex. Thus, the structure of bacterial cell walls is quite different from the relatively simple structure of eukaryotic cell walls, although they serve the same functions—providing rigidity, strength, and protection. The main constituent of most bacterial cell walls is a complex macromolecular polymer known as peptidoglycan (also known as murein), consisting of many polysaccharide chains linked together by small peptide (protein) chains (Fig. 3). Peptidoglycan is only found in bacteria. The thickness of the cell wall and its exact composition vary with the species of bacteria. The cell walls of certain bacteria, called Gram-positive bacteria, have a thick layer of peptidoglycan combined with teichoic acid and lipoteichoic acid molecules (Fig. 4). The cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria (also explained in Chapter 4) have a much thinner layer of peptidoglycan, but this layer is covered with a complex layer of lipid macromolecules, usually referred to as the outer membrane, as shown in Figure 4. Although most bacteria have cell walls, bacteria in the genus Mycoplasma do not. Archaea (described in Chapter 4) have cell walls, but their cell walls do not contain peptidoglycan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjpzelJrsOZToollS0JZxRQu7em7KSwnfTDIvFUNW2HbIkueQ28cf2pL70ZPAQ1kGvycZg1UIL0-LZTu2kUMgeOoIYpwQjTJJe1HBw6IjTOAoB74cWdU9PAQK73NKkboSEWe_jybhpMEp/s1600/2016-06-06_222232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Structure of peptidoglycan. The peptidoglycan (murein) layer in a bacterial cell is a crystal lattice. Polysaccharide chains consisting of two alternating amino sugars are attached to a short peptide chain. Some of the peptide chains of one polysaccharide chain are cross-linked to peptide chains of another polysaccharide chain, thus producing a three-dimensional lattice structure. (Redrawn from Engleberg NC, et al. Schaechter’s Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)" border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjpzelJrsOZToollS0JZxRQu7em7KSwnfTDIvFUNW2HbIkueQ28cf2pL70ZPAQ1kGvycZg1UIL0-LZTu2kUMgeOoIYpwQjTJJe1HBw6IjTOAoB74cWdU9PAQK73NKkboSEWe_jybhpMEp/s400/2016-06-06_222232.jpg" title="Structure of peptidoglycan. The peptidoglycan (murein) layer in a bacterial cell is a crystal lattice. Polysaccharide chains consisting of two alternating amino sugars are attached to a short peptide chain. Some of the peptide chains of one polysaccharide chain are cross-linked to peptide chains of another polysaccharide chain, thus producing a three-dimensional lattice structure. (Redrawn from Engleberg NC, et al. Schaechter’s Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.3:</b> Structure of peptidoglycan. The<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>peptidoglycan (murein) layer in a bacterial cell is a crystal lattice. Polysaccharide chains consisting of two alternating amino sugars are attached to a short peptide chain. Some of the peptide chains of one polysaccharide chain are cross-linked to peptide chains of another polysaccharide chain, thus producing a three-dimensional lattice structure. (Redrawn from Engleberg NC, et al. Schaechter’s Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)</td></tr>
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Some bacteria lose their ability to produce cell walls, transforming into tiny variants of the same species, referred to as L-form or cell wall–deficient (CWD) bacteria. Over 50 different species of bacteria are capable of transforming into CWD bacteria, some of which might be responsible for chronic diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and sarcoidosis. Clinicians are often unaware that CWD bacteria are present in their patients because they will not grow under standard laboratory conditions; they must be cultured in a different medium and at a different temperature than typical bacteria.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJ1O6fEWQlKu8s_kcKSveglnS-xy0kA8sqwRWtuGDRdfZaRMIbKexK48uBNIMQZ8oSHtzPI_UYXByJRoGXe5amrOFnKwQaFnJQSOFa618i4EJ9fsy4g_7D2rYyl35vOIRHayWzM9D_17P/s1600/2016-06-06_222325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Differences between Gram-negative and Gram-positive cell walls. The relatively thin Gram-negative cell wall contains a thin layer of peptidoglycan, an outer membrane, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The thicker Gram-positive cell wall contains a thick layer of peptidoglycan and teichoic and lipoteichoic acids. (From Engleberg NC, et al. Schaechter’s Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)" border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsJ1O6fEWQlKu8s_kcKSveglnS-xy0kA8sqwRWtuGDRdfZaRMIbKexK48uBNIMQZ8oSHtzPI_UYXByJRoGXe5amrOFnKwQaFnJQSOFa618i4EJ9fsy4g_7D2rYyl35vOIRHayWzM9D_17P/s400/2016-06-06_222325.jpg" title="Differences between Gram-negative and Gram-positive cell walls. The relatively thin Gram-negative cell wall contains a thin layer of peptidoglycan, an outer membrane, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The thicker Gram-positive cell wall contains a thick layer of peptidoglycan and teichoic and lipoteichoic acids. (From Engleberg NC, et al. Schaechter’s Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.4:</b> Differences between Gram-negative and Gram-positive cell walls. The relatively thin Gram-negative cell wall contains a thin layer of peptidoglycan, an outer membrane, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The thicker Gram-positive cell wall contains a thick layer of peptidoglycan and teichoic and lipoteichoic acids. (From Engleberg NC, et al. Schaechter’s Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.)</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Glycocalyx (Slime Layers and Capsules) </h3>
Some bacteria have a thick layer of material (known as glycocalyx) located outside their cell wall. Glycocalyx is a slimy, gelatinous material produced by the cell membrane and secreted outside of the cell wall. There are two types of glycocalyx. One type, called a slime layer, is not highly organized and is not firmly attached to the cell wall. It easily detaches from the cell wall and drifts away. Bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas produce a slime layer, which sometimes plays a role in diseases caused by Pseudomonas species. Slime layers enable certain bacteria to glide or slide along solid surfaces, and seem to protect bacteria from antibiotics and desiccation.<br />
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The other type of glycocalyx, called a capsule, is highly organized and firmly attached to the cell wall. Capsules usually consist of polysaccharides, which may be combined with lipids and proteins, depending on the bacterial species. Knowledge of the chemical composition of capsules is useful in differentiating among different types of bacteria within a particular species; for example, different strains of the bacterium H. influenzae, a cause of meningitis and ear infections in children, are identified by their capsular types. A vaccine, called Hib vaccine, is available for protection against disease caused by H.influenzae capsular type b. Other examples of encapsulated bacteria are Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae.<br />
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Capsules can be detected using a capsule staining procedure, which is a type of negative stain. The bacterial cell and background become stained, but the capsule remains unstained (Fig. 5). Thus, the capsule appears as an unstained halo around the bacterial cell. Antigen–antibody tests may be used to identify specific strains of bacteria possessing unique capsular molecules (antigens).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgHX6yZ21NED7p2MJy66vJvVCxVDUN6u3jmTrUeZnR7DV4Y-C71-bCYVlXs9EPsTJlex-QuLj48gc5h9RCYJW6iLSPLKiPuBk-noe5kkdXO9lmVcnb-PYGCPhb1rw4nxjqmPasny271j2/s1600/2016-06-07_082412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Capsule staining. A. Drawing illustrating the results of the capsule staining technique. B. Photomicrograph of encapsulated bacteria that have been stained using the capsule staining technique. The capsule staining is an example of a negative staining technique. Note that the bacterial cells and the background stain, but the capsules do not. The capsules are seen as unstained “halos” around the bacterial cells. ([B] From Winn WC Jr, et al. Koneman’s Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006.)" border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgHX6yZ21NED7p2MJy66vJvVCxVDUN6u3jmTrUeZnR7DV4Y-C71-bCYVlXs9EPsTJlex-QuLj48gc5h9RCYJW6iLSPLKiPuBk-noe5kkdXO9lmVcnb-PYGCPhb1rw4nxjqmPasny271j2/s400/2016-06-07_082412.jpg" title="Capsule staining. A. Drawing illustrating the results of the capsule staining technique. B. Photomicrograph of encapsulated bacteria that have been stained using the capsule staining technique. The capsule staining is an example of a negative staining technique. Note that the bacterial cells and the background stain, but the capsules do not. The capsules are seen as unstained “halos” around the bacterial cells. ([B] From Winn WC Jr, et al. Koneman’s Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006.)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.5: Capsule staining. </b>A. Drawing illustrating the results of the capsule staining technique. B. Photomicrograph of encapsulated bacteria that have been stained using the capsule staining technique. The capsule staining is an example of a negative staining technique. Note that the bacterial cells and the background stain, but the capsules do not. The capsules are seen as unstained “halos” around the bacterial cells. ([B] From Winn WC Jr, et al. Koneman’s Color Atlas and Textbook of Diagnostic Microbiology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006.)</td></tr>
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Encapsulated bacteria usually produce colonies on nutrient agar that are smooth, mucoid, and glistening; they are referred to as S-colonies. Nonencapsulated bacteria tend to grow as dry, rough colonies, called R-colonies. Capsules serve an antiphagocytic function, protecting the encapsulated bacteria from being phagocytized (ingested) by phagocytic white blood cells. Thus, encapsulated bacteria are able to survive longer in the human body than nonencapsulated bacteria.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Flagella </h3>
Flagella (sing., flagellum) are thread-like, protein appendages that enable bacteria to move. Flagellated bacteria are said to be motile, whereas nonflagellated bacteria are usually nonmotile. Bacterial flagella are about 10 to 20 nm thick; too thin to be seen with the compound light microscope.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-2tiR3L_gWWL-_dh8ZBsLZ9p3M1Wjl1bSvJ2H4O1dwhHA9aC-3qVWvXpmMBBZxGhxpTvkmG1HrXIyvL4cHKp0JEB3H2XDLf901nNWhgpr0VkKXgRW9-J7FqaUchSZSknkdfpwQ5S6h_f/s1600/2016-06-07_083936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Flagellar arrangement. The four basic types of flagellar arrangement on bacteria: peritrichous, flagella all over the surface; lophotrichous, a tuft of flagella at one end; amphitrichous, one or more flagella at each end; monotrichous, one flagellum." border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB-2tiR3L_gWWL-_dh8ZBsLZ9p3M1Wjl1bSvJ2H4O1dwhHA9aC-3qVWvXpmMBBZxGhxpTvkmG1HrXIyvL4cHKp0JEB3H2XDLf901nNWhgpr0VkKXgRW9-J7FqaUchSZSknkdfpwQ5S6h_f/s400/2016-06-07_083936.jpg" title="Flagellar arrangement. The four basic types of flagellar arrangement on bacteria: peritrichous, flagella all over the surface; lophotrichous, a tuft of flagella at one end; amphitrichous, one or more flagella at each end; monotrichous, one flagellum." width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.6: Flagellar arrangement.</b> The four basic types of flagellar arrangement on bacteria: peritrichous, flagella all over the surface; lophotrichous, a tuft of flagella at one end; amphitrichous, one or more flagella at each end; monotrichous, one flagellum.</td></tr>
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The number and arrangement of flagella possessed by a certain species of bacterium are characteristic of that species and can, thus, be used for classification and identification purposes (Fig. 6). Bacteria possessing flagella over their entire surface (perimeter) are called peritrichous bacteria. Bacteria with a tuft of flagella at one end are described as being lophotrichous bacteria, whereas those having one or more flagella at each end are said to be amphitrichous bacteria. Bacteria possessing a single polar flagellum are described as monotrichous bacteria. In the laboratory, the number of flagella that a cell possesses and their locations on the cell can be determined using what is known as a flagella stain. The stain adheres to the flagella, making them thick enough to be seen under the microscope (Fig. 7).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn4Z3pIBN7VmoV-7ROpFePlY9zWbdn8wKKOYRbfjGQGLvzOyu-FZlrpArDpu4EFfiRAzP4g8g2IiUIkAflqLZrImE2Tb3yFUoF_CFhBTCQoa0qI3fouXwVhk5yDV4f1CKx46df9aPiiRo/s1600/2016-06-07_084848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Salmonella cells, showing peritrichous flagella. Salmonella is a bacterial genus. The cells were stained using a flagella stain. (Courtesy of the CDC.)" border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAn4Z3pIBN7VmoV-7ROpFePlY9zWbdn8wKKOYRbfjGQGLvzOyu-FZlrpArDpu4EFfiRAzP4g8g2IiUIkAflqLZrImE2Tb3yFUoF_CFhBTCQoa0qI3fouXwVhk5yDV4f1CKx46df9aPiiRo/s320/2016-06-07_084848.jpg" title="Salmonella cells, showing peritrichous flagella. Salmonella is a bacterial genus. The cells were stained using a flagella stain. (Courtesy of the CDC.)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.7:</b> Salmonella cells, showing peritrichous flagella. Salmonella is a bacterial genus. The cells were stained using a flagella stain. (Courtesy of the CDC.)</td></tr>
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Bacterial flagella consist of three, four, or more threads of protein (called flagellin) twisted like a rope. Thus, the structures of bacterial flagella and eukaryotic flagella are quite different. You will recall that eukaryotic flagella (and cilia) contain a complex arrangement of internal microtubules, which run the length of the membranebound flagellum. Bacterial flagella do not contain microtubules, and their flagella are not membrane-bound. Bacterial flagella arise from a basal body in the cell membrane and project outward through the cell wall and capsule (if present), as was shown in Figure 1.<br />
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Some spirochetes (spiral-shaped bacteria) have two flagella-like fibrils called axial filaments, one attached to each end of the bacterium. These axial filaments extend toward each other, wrap around the organism between the layers of the cell wall, and overlap in the midsection of the cell. As a result of its axial filaments, spirochetes can move in a spiral, helical, or inchworm manner.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Pili (Fimbriae) </h3>
Pili (sing., pilus) or fimbriae (sing., fimbria) are hair-like structures, most often observed on Gram-negative bacteria. They are composed of polymerized protein molecules called pilin. Pili are much thinner than flagella, have a rigid structure, and are not associated with motility. These tiny appendages arise from the cytoplasm and extend through the plasma membrane, cell wall, and capsule (if present). There are two types of pili: one type merely enables bacteria to adhere or attach to surfaces; the other type (called a sex pilus) facilitates transfer of genetic material from one bacterial cell to another following attachment of the cells to each other.<br />
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The pili that merely enable bacteria to anchor themselves to surfaces (e.g., tissues within the human body) are usually quite numerous (Fig. 8). In some species of bacteria, piliated strains (those possessing pili) are able to cause diseases such as urethritis and cystitis, whereas nonpiliated strains (those not possessing pili) of the same organisms are unable to cause these diseases.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMErKZH3AiUE6LglzMiPR-SSCEHpGhPmNoZJqXWzMXO0lpYtRkLawQOUCNCmGmUasAyjSW2QdgOdk6OSk36xCcTlN1du_HrDFiiWFCjGc_IS6ZUfLgjM61VrWdf4jats86LJTWLGiwf2Cm/s1600/2016-06-07_084912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Proteus vulgaris cell, possessing numerous short, straight pili and several longer, curved flagella; the cell is undergoing binary fission. P. vulgaris is a bacterial species. (From Volk WA, et al. Essentials of Medical Microbiology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven; 1996.)" border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMErKZH3AiUE6LglzMiPR-SSCEHpGhPmNoZJqXWzMXO0lpYtRkLawQOUCNCmGmUasAyjSW2QdgOdk6OSk36xCcTlN1du_HrDFiiWFCjGc_IS6ZUfLgjM61VrWdf4jats86LJTWLGiwf2Cm/s320/2016-06-07_084912.jpg" title="Proteus vulgaris cell, possessing numerous short, straight pili and several longer, curved flagella; the cell is undergoing binary fission. P. vulgaris is a bacterial species. (From Volk WA, et al. Essentials of Medical Microbiology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven; 1996.)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.8: Proteus vulgaris cell</b>, possessing numerous short, straight pili and several longer, curved flagella; the cell is undergoing binary fission. P. vulgaris is a bacterial species. (From Volk WA, et al. Essentials of Medical Microbiology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven; 1996.)</td></tr>
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A bacterial cell possessing a sex pilus (called a donor cell)—and the cell only possesses one sex pilus—is able to attach to another bacterial cell (called a recipient cell) by means of the sex pilus. Genetic material (usually in the form of a plasmid) is then transferred from the donor cell to the recipient cell—a process known as conjugation.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Spores (Endospores) </h3>
A few genera of bacteria (e.g., Bacillus and Clostridium) are capable of forming thick-walled spores as a means of survival when their moisture or nutrient supply is low. Bacterial spores are referred to as endospores, and the process by which they are formed is called sporulation. During sporulation, a copy of the chromosome and some of the surrounding cytoplasm becomes enclosed in several thick protein coats. Spores are resistant to heat, cold, drying, and most chemicals. Spores have been shown to survive for many years in soil or dust, and some are quite resistant to disinfectants and boiling. When the dried spore lands on a moist, nutrient-rich surface, it germinates, and a new vegetative bacterial cell (a cell capable of growing and dividing) emerges. Germination of a spore may be compared with germination of a seed. However, in bacteria, spore formation is related to the survival of the bacterial cell, not to reproduction. Usually, only one spore is produced in a bacterial cell and it germinates into only one vegetative bacterium. In the laboratory, endospores can be stained using what is known as a spore stain. Once a particular bacterium’s endospores are stained, the laboratory technologist can determine whether the organism is producing terminal or subterminal spores. A terminal spore is produced at the very end of the bacterial cell, whereas a subterminal spore is produced elsewhere in the cell (Fig. 9). Where a spore is being produced within the cell and whether or not it causes a swelling of the cell serve as clues to the identity of the organism.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBeYOFCt6zwJDv3h8btiuyvsGIUxDs0DgzSPoDJ-aPNj9r3joQ4pYujA4pOST1gzkEWtTlBQXLQQpeXbnFzYiswyreIvy2XHcv5X6QQwWcxjLnp-KjV1mog17Gd3Lsl9BADHWtfddZ1Fh/s1600/2016-06-07_085144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Terminal and subterminal spores. A. Gramstained Clostridium tetani bacteria, revealing terminal spores (arrows). C. tetani causes the disease known as tetanus. (Courtesy of Dr. Holdeman and the CDC.)" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVBeYOFCt6zwJDv3h8btiuyvsGIUxDs0DgzSPoDJ-aPNj9r3joQ4pYujA4pOST1gzkEWtTlBQXLQQpeXbnFzYiswyreIvy2XHcv5X6QQwWcxjLnp-KjV1mog17Gd3Lsl9BADHWtfddZ1Fh/s320/2016-06-07_085144.jpg" title="Terminal and subterminal spores. A. Gramstained Clostridium tetani bacteria, revealing terminal spores (arrows). C. tetani causes the disease known as tetanus. (Courtesy of Dr. Holdeman and the CDC.)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.9A: Terminal and subterminal spores. </b>A. Gramstained Clostridium tetani bacteria, revealing terminal spores (arrows). C. tetani causes the disease known as tetanus. (Courtesy of Dr. Holdeman and the CDC.)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNq4E1qGYWrxZHKDwihipvE28VMGb4wsjAttnjKOPTHHBF8A1PHxc5JstVGGu0QG-DhAiiRn0ank-N0tWeYk2G-v6_ILavs1t_YSslXmeukLtcxn2l1prJuws7Gw53mHE6B41w4pwrlHJ/s1600/2016-06-07_105908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Continued. B. Gramstained Clostridium difficile bacteria, revealing subterminal spores (the light areas within the cells). C. difficile causes a diarrheal disease. (Courtesy of Dr. Gilda Jones and the CDC.)" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjNq4E1qGYWrxZHKDwihipvE28VMGb4wsjAttnjKOPTHHBF8A1PHxc5JstVGGu0QG-DhAiiRn0ank-N0tWeYk2G-v6_ILavs1t_YSslXmeukLtcxn2l1prJuws7Gw53mHE6B41w4pwrlHJ/s320/2016-06-07_105908.jpg" title="Continued. B. Gramstained Clostridium difficile bacteria, revealing subterminal spores (the light areas within the cells). C. difficile causes a diarrheal disease. (Courtesy of Dr. Gilda Jones and the CDC.)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Figure.9B: Continued.</b> B. Gramstained Clostridium difficile bacteria, revealing subterminal spores (the light areas within the cells).<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>C. difficile causes a diarrheal disease. (Courtesy of Dr. Gilda Jones and the CDC.)</td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The Discovery of Endospores </h3>
While performing spontaneous generation experiments in 1876 and 1877, a British physicist named John Tyndall concluded that certain bacteria exist in two forms: a form that is readily killed by simple boiling (i.e., a heat-labile form), and a form that is not killed by simple boiling (i.e., a heat-stable form). He developed a fractional sterilization technique, known as tyndallization, which successfully killed both the heatlabile and heat-stable forms. Tyndallization involves boiling, followed by incubating, and then reboiling; these steps are repeated several times. The bacteria that emerge from the spores during the incubation steps are subsequently killed during the boiling steps. In 1877, Ferdinand Cohn, a German botanist, described the microscopic appearance of the two forms of the “hay bacillus,” which Cohn named Bacillus subtilis. He referred to small refractile bodies within the bacterial cells as “spores” and observed the conversion of spores into actively growing cells. Cohn also concluded that when they were in the spore phase, the bacteria were heat resistant. Today, bacterial spores are known as endospores, whereas active, metabolizing, growing bacterial cells are referred to as vegetative cells. The experiments of Tyndall and Cohn supported Louis Pasteur’s conclusions regarding spontaneous generation and dealt the final death blow to that theory.</div>
irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-24482999843278444142013-10-14T23:10:00.000-07:002013-10-14T23:10:13.797-07:00Marine Mammals: Dugongs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwFmA1ykQJc1ZlHxP_sRaFunTFF_5VOmOs4YJFZRJUl7Kfk6P1cencffZ8uAVVczrTht0yNFfyJ4re0vg5iprDg2SXf5XqisW-AKKW4MyDm2rU1Q_DyIEuvuBTjeOB6lgF5eNaNi9AFJv/s1600/10-15-2013+1-08-08+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Marine Mammals: Dugongs" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwFmA1ykQJc1ZlHxP_sRaFunTFF_5VOmOs4YJFZRJUl7Kfk6P1cencffZ8uAVVczrTht0yNFfyJ4re0vg5iprDg2SXf5XqisW-AKKW4MyDm2rU1Q_DyIEuvuBTjeOB6lgF5eNaNi9AFJv/s1600/10-15-2013+1-08-08+PM.png" title="Marine Mammals: Dugongs" /></a></div>
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Shy and retiring, dugongs are marine mammals that spend their days feeding in the shallow waters of reefs and along coastlines in the Indian Ocean, the Indonesian archipelago, and the southwestern Pacific around the Philippines. Even though they resemble a cross between a seal and a walrus, dugongs are more closely related to elephants. The slow-moving mammals are easily identified by their triangular, whalelike tails, broad trunklike snouts, and long bodies, which reach 9 feet (2.7 m). Dugongs have a thick layer of blubber under their skin, a feature that gives them a round-shouldered look. Their mouths look like vertical slits on their upper jaws, and their flippers are small and paddle shaped.</div>
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Dugongs have unusually slow metabolic rates for mammals but function well in their warm water environments where they float and feed, expending very little energy. With very few predators and plenty of food, migration and other energetic types of behavior are not necessary. Most of their time is spent grazing on sea grass blades and digging up the grass roots, their favorite parts of the plants. Roots of sea grasses are rich in carbohydrates, but to reach these treats, the animals must dig around on the bottom of the reef, behavior that has earned them the nickname “sea pigs.” Equipped with very few teeth, a dugongs bites with a mobile disk at the end of its snout. The disk works like a rake, pulling in food and sending it back to the grinding plates in the mouth. The males also have tusks, enlarged incisors that project from below the upper lip.</div>
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<br />Sexually mature between eight and 18 years, female dugongs give birth to one calf every three or four years. After a gestation period of 13 months, their cream-colored calves are born in shallow water. Mothers help the calves, measuring only 39.4 inches (100 cm), to the surface for their first breaths. A calf nurses for two years, always remaining close enough to its mother to touch her. During an average life span of 55 years, a female produces only five or six offspring.</div>
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<br />Dugongs are so shy that not much is known about their social interactions. Attempts to observe their behavior disturb them and often kindle curiosity about the observers. Dugongs are spotted singly or in small groups of six to eight animals. Within a group there seems to be no leader or organized social structure.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-1333339453538211882013-10-12T22:35:00.003-07:002013-10-12T22:35:44.831-07:00The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWAgR7AQ84-YpJFxBPPhCLHiTvVBAySviJ44uJpDNRApylhuWkcZHwpaAScmFP_znu_sTvoZsskikrXb0f240Xmd2MkFa-ZT726hJZ6Oq2tUSkPJAWm8YqAVVBlW-VqB_HghGxQknuQyy/s1600/10-13-2013+12-34-24+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWAgR7AQ84-YpJFxBPPhCLHiTvVBAySviJ44uJpDNRApylhuWkcZHwpaAScmFP_znu_sTvoZsskikrXb0f240Xmd2MkFa-ZT726hJZ6Oq2tUSkPJAWm8YqAVVBlW-VqB_HghGxQknuQyy/s1600/10-13-2013+12-34-24+PM.png" title="The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)" /></a></div>
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The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is the second smallest of the baleen whales, measuring about 32.8 feet (10 m) in length. A distinctive triangular head, narrow and pointed snout, and sickle-shaped dorsal fin make this whale easy to identify. Generally, minke whales are black, gray, or brown on their dorsal surface and a light color on their ventral surface. These active, agile whales have good maneuverability and speed, able to travel at 10.4 miles per hour (17 kph) for short periods of time.</div>
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<br />As baleen whales, minkes are carnivores whose mouths are equipped with smooth baleen plates for filtering small organisms from gulps of water. Minkes can be found worldwide and are known to live in deep oceans, along coasts, and in coral reefs. Instead of seasonal migration, they only travel to follow their food. Sometimes minkes chase schools of small fish such as sardines and herring, swimming beneath and scooping them up in their open mouths. As in humpbacks, the throats of minkes are pleated so that they can expand their bite size.</div>
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<br />Females enter their reproductive periods on 14-month cycles. Gestation lasts for 10 months, and calves are born in mid-winter. There is usually only one calf, but twins and triplets do occur. A newborn calf is only about 8.53 feet (2.6 m) long but grows quickly on its mother’s milk, which supports the baby whale for four or five months. Young whales reach sexual maturity at seven years of age and live to be about 50 years old.</div>
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<br />Minke whales are most often solitary animals, although they are also seen in small groups. When food is plentiful, several hundred animals may congregate in the feeding grounds where they communicate with grunts, clicks, and breaching. The sounds they produce are very low-frequency waves that can travel long distances under water. Worldwide populations of minke whales are larger than most other groups of whales, consisting of about a million animals. Because the whales are small, they have escaped predation by humans and maintained almost-normal population sizes.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-67388983048470912462013-10-12T02:48:00.003-07:002013-10-12T02:54:44.587-07:00Humpback Whales<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZHKxjUXrhOFuOf4yMiJr631Co82wt2ko5t2E44jAxUrRct7Km6OTqtRnI400pacvy7gFvKUhnySSudM5KRvr5A8y76TX76-60WgdldfQuuH5ubTUGerR5v8JiBX9X1T9z-k7SCvLhW5r/s1600/10-12-2013+4-46-26+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Humpback Whales" border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpZHKxjUXrhOFuOf4yMiJr631Co82wt2ko5t2E44jAxUrRct7Km6OTqtRnI400pacvy7gFvKUhnySSudM5KRvr5A8y76TX76-60WgdldfQuuH5ubTUGerR5v8JiBX9X1T9z-k7SCvLhW5r/s200/10-12-2013+4-46-26+PM.png" title="Humpback Whales" width="200" /></a></div>
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The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is much bigger than the spinner dolphin, measuring 40 to 50 feet (12.9 to 15.2 m) long and weighing up to 55 tons. The common name humpback describes the motion this whale makes as it jumps out of the water. A typical humpback whale is black on the dorsal side, with a white ventral surface and distinctive 15-foot flippers on the sides of its body.</div>
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The head of a humpback whale is large in proportion to the rest of its torpedo-shaped body. This figure below shows that the mouth line runs high along the entire length of head, and the eyes are set above the ends of the mouth. The small ear slits are located behind and below the eyes.</div>
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On the top of its head, a humpback has a raised area in front of its two blowholes that functions like a splashguard to keep water from flowing back into the holes where it breathes. Rounded knobs called tubercles are also located on the head, often on the upper and lower jaws. Each tubercle contains a hairlike structure, a vibrissa, that is about 0.5 inch (1.3 cm) long. The vibrissa’s function is not clearly understood, but it is believed to be important in detecting vibrations in the water. On the ventral side of the head, running from the tip of the lower jaw to the naval, there is an area of grooves known as ventral pleats, which are creased tissues that unfold when the whale opens its mouth, allowing the animal to expand the size of its bite to three times its normal width. The throat pleats can be seen when the whales breach, or jump in the water, as in the lower color insert on countershading (One type of protective, two-tone coloration in animals in which surfaces that are exposed to light are dark colored and those that are shaded are light colored.).</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgqSq0tiStZqpQ7Ys_ymRspPiuCi43Yz4MOOAgP2Q6e3Xdk3zrCZamEcRWyYpch9r089J6ObEgJrr20L_EdTT5R_1MS_Er06j1GLDY7IDMX1_bPWgxHsRkVrnMRGlD4boOeQv_UtNXnNk/s1600/10-12-2013+4-34-36+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Baleen whales have two blowholes and large mouths filled with baleen plates. (Courtesy Sanctuary Collection, NOAA)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlgqSq0tiStZqpQ7Ys_ymRspPiuCi43Yz4MOOAgP2Q6e3Xdk3zrCZamEcRWyYpch9r089J6ObEgJrr20L_EdTT5R_1MS_Er06j1GLDY7IDMX1_bPWgxHsRkVrnMRGlD4boOeQv_UtNXnNk/s1600/10-12-2013+4-34-36+PM.png" title="Baleen whales have two blowholes and large mouths filled with baleen plates. (Courtesy Sanctuary Collection, NOAA)" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baleen whales have two blowholes and<br />
large mouths filled with baleen plates. (Courtesy<br />
Sanctuary Collection, NOAA)</td></tr>
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Whales are divided into two groups based on their feeding adaptations: the baleen whales and the toothed whales. Humpbacks are baleen whales, so named for the large plates in their mouths that act as food-catching sieves. Baleen is made of a flexible tissue that is chemically and physically similar to a fingernail. Plates are rooted in and grow from bases in the roof of the mouth. On each side of the upper jaw, there are 480 baleen plates. Each plate overlaps the adjacent one, forming dense mats that filter plankton from the water. The tongue wipes food off the plates and sweeps it into the whale’s throat.</div>
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Several of the cetaceans migrate, and their paths and periods of migration vary by species. Migratory baleens divide their year between the rich feeding grounds of the cold seas and the warm oceans where they breed and calve.</div>
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Humpbacks live in small groups similar to the pods of spinner dolphins. From June to September, they feed in the waters around Alaska and in other cold regions where food is plentiful, leaving the area in early fall for the long trip to the tropics.</div>
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Led by the sexually mature members of the group, the entire group makes the trip of about 3,500 miles (5,600 km) to warm coral reef waters, cruising at speeds of 2.3 miles per hour (2.0 kph), where females give birth.</div>
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Male humpback whales are extremely vocal and sing complex songs that can go on for hours. Within a population of whales, all of the males begin the breeding season singing the same song, but as the season progresses, each male creates his own version. By the end of a breeding season, individual songs have evolved so that every male’s vocalizations are distinct. The exact functions of these songs are not known but</div>
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are most likely associated with mating behaviors such as attracting females or warning off rival males.</div>
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Feeding occurs within the top 164 feet (50 m) of water. Humpbacks consume tons of plankton and krill, small, insectlike animals that live in the upper layers of water. To eat, a whale engulfs enormous gulps of water, then filters out food by sieving the water through the meshlike screen of baleen plates. Humpbacks have several feeding techniques, including one called bubble-netting. In this strategy, a whale dives beneath a school of prey and slowly begins to spiral upward around them, blowing bubbles as it goes. These bubbles herd the prey in the center of the circle. The whale then dives beneath the prey and swims up through the bubble net with its mouth open, gulping prey as it ascends.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-83589529879017821812013-10-11T02:06:00.000-07:002013-10-11T02:06:02.646-07:00Spinner Dolphins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDb7KmmkmTc36TgP2PGyjE_8TjMhwuqBQ4qJeDrE8iQvz19ADwrt3TUTW4Yw2yTDGDVezqdhaHFw8M3jACxjNw6EEEjdDtkRGNdl3zm4TigJjQpHwACLrN9oBu-NCOYAJLCsIASxnqyg8/s1600/10-11-2013+4-02-33+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDb7KmmkmTc36TgP2PGyjE_8TjMhwuqBQ4qJeDrE8iQvz19ADwrt3TUTW4Yw2yTDGDVezqdhaHFw8M3jACxjNw6EEEjdDtkRGNdl3zm4TigJjQpHwACLrN9oBu-NCOYAJLCsIASxnqyg8/s1600/10-11-2013+4-02-33+PM.png" title="Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris)" /></a></div>
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Spinner dolphins (<i>Stenella longirostris</i>) are easily spotted as they swim in the clear waters of coral reefs. Named for their ability to spin during acrobatic jumps, these dolphins are slender, with long thin beaks, sloping foreheads, and a stripe that runs from the eyes to the flippers. An adult measures 4.25 to 6.89 feet (1.3 to 2.1 m) long, and weighs between 100 and 165 pounds (45 and 75 kg). There are several varieties of spinners in different geological locations, and they vary slightly in shape and color.</div>
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<br />Spinner dolphins feed at night on fish and squid in the deeper waters of the reef, although they will also eat organisms that live on the reef floor. Their mouths are equipped with 45 to 65 pairs of sharp teeth in each jaw. After feeding, spinner dolphins can often be found resting in protected areas of shallow water.</div>
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<br />As social animals, spinners depend on interaction with others for hunting, defense, and reproduction and form small, long-lasting social groups called pods. In this species, pods do not have a highly organized social structure with a leader or dominant animal; instead, spinner pods are loose associations of a few key individuals, as well as dolphins who come and go.</div>
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<br />A pod of spinner dolphins may also spend time with other sea animals, such as pilot whales, spotted dolphins, or tuna. Like most dolphins, spinners have good eyesight; however, they primarily rely on their sense of hearing and two kinds of voices, the sonic voice and the sonar voice, to let them know about their environment. The sonic or audible voice includes a vocabulary of clicks and whistles that are performed above or below the water. Along with these sounds, these mammals incorporate several mechanically produced sounds like jawsnapping, flipper slapping, and crash dives. Sonic voice and mechanical sounds are associated with communication between animals. The sonar or echolocation voice is used to navigate. Spinners send out high frequency sounds that are reflected back to the senders as echoes. The dolphins listen for the echoes and use them to locate objects.</div>
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<br />A female spinner calves (has offspring, called a calf) once every two or three years. After a gestation period of about 10 1/2 months, a single newborn, 29.5 to 33.5 inches (75 to 85 cm) long, is born. The calf is immediately pushed to the surface by its mother, so it can take in its first breath. A nursing mother lies on her side at the surface, enabling her offspring to feed and breathe. The mother’s fat-rich milk supports the young dolphin for about seven months.</div>
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<br />Spinner dolphins may use their pectoral fins to reach out and stroke each other, acts that strengthen the social bonds between them. Pairs of dolphins often swim along face to face, touching their flippers. Closely bonded animals, such as mother and calf, may swim in perfect synchrony as if mirror images of each other. The dolphins are also playful animals that make “toys” from materials in the environment and pass them back and forth to each other.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-29395597314414268922013-07-27T12:01:00.000-07:002019-10-01T18:56:48.539-07:00Marine Mammals<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgAejb4GxMHlRIHjbzUteyazw9ZSRRC2zaiy7vbXqC1rL02xPuRLA8iQSweVXuV5t4n5_avLfAmWlpH3sjQuL3GPys7SA5nDin7r6k5v4Q4z-zZcnciPJZzvEk0jYKy3W1b6M4NqpLqpV/s1600/7-28-2013+1-56-17+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Marine Mammals" border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgAejb4GxMHlRIHjbzUteyazw9ZSRRC2zaiy7vbXqC1rL02xPuRLA8iQSweVXuV5t4n5_avLfAmWlpH3sjQuL3GPys7SA5nDin7r6k5v4Q4z-zZcnciPJZzvEk0jYKy3W1b6M4NqpLqpV/s640/7-28-2013+1-56-17+AM.png" title="Marine Mammals" width="640" /></a>Mammals are the most obvious group of animals on land, but they are relatively rare in marine environments. There are just a few types of mammals whose bodies have become specialized for marine life. Among these are the cetaceans, a group that includes whales and dolphins, porpoises, and dugongs.</div>
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Marine Mammal Anatomy</h2>
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Mammals are warmblooded vertebrates that have hair and breathe air. All females of this group have milk-producing mammary glands with which to feed their young. Mammals also have a diaphragm that pulls air into the lungs and a four-chambered heart for efficient circulation of blood. The teeth of mammals are specialized by size and shape for particular uses.</div>
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Marine mammals are subdivided into four categories: cetaceans, animals that spend their entire lives in the ocean; sirenians, herbivorous ocean mammals; pinnipeds, web-footed mammals; and marine otters. Animals in all four categories have the same characteristics as terrestrial mammals, as well as some special adaptations that enable them to survive in their watery environment.</div>
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The cetaceans, which include whales, dolphins, and porpoises, have streamlined bodies, horizontal tail flukes, and paddle-like flippers that enable them to move quickly through the water. Layers of blubber (subcutaneous fat) insulate their bodies and act as storage places for large quantities of energy. Their noses (blowholes) are located on the tops of their heads so air can be inhaled as soon as the organism surfaces above the water.</div>
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Manatees and dugongs are the only sirenians. These docile, slow-moving herbivores lack a dorsal fin or hind limbs but are equipped with front limbs that move at the elbow, as well as with a flattened tail. Their powerful tails propel them through the water, while the front limbs act as paddles for steering.</div>
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The pinnipeds—seals, sea lions, and walruses—are carnivores that have webbed feet. Although very awkward on land, the pinnipeds are agile and aggressive hunters in the water. This group of marine mammals is protected from the cold by hair and blubber. During deepwater dives, their bodies are able to restrict blood flow to vital organs and slow their heart rates to only a few beats a minute, strategies that reduce oxygen consumption. All pinnipeds come onto land or ice at breeding time.</div>
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The sea otters spend their entire lives at sea and only come ashore during storms. They are much smaller than the other marine mammals. Even though otters are very agile swimmers and divers, they are clumsy on shore. Their back feet, which are flipperlike and fully webbed, are larger than their front feet. Internally, their bodies are adapted to deal with the salt in seawater with enlarged kidneys that can eliminate the excess salt.</div>
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Body Temperature</h2>
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Animals that are described as warm blooded, or endothermic, maintain a constant internal temperature, even when exposed to extreme temperatures in their environment. In mammals, this internal temperature is about 97°F (36°C), while in birds, it is warmer, around 108°F (42°C).</div>
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Warm-blooded animals have developed several physiological and behavioral modifications that help regulate body temperature. Since their bodies generate heat by converting food into energy, they must take in enough food to fuel a constant body temperature. Once heat is produced, endotherms conserve it with insulating adaptations such as hair, feathers, or layers of fat. In extreme cold, they also shiver, a mechanism that generates additional heat.</div>
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Heart rate and rate of respiration in warm-blooded animals does not depend on the temperature of the surroundings. For this reason, they can be as active on a cold winter night as they are during a summer day. This is a real advantage that enables warm-blooded animals to actively look for food year round.</div>
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The internal temperature of coldblooded, or ectothermic, animals is the same as the temperature of their surroundings. In other words, when it is hot outside, they are hot, and when it is cold outside, they are cold. In very hot environments the blood temperature of some cold-blooded animals can rise far above the blood temperature of warmblooded organisms. Furthermore, their respiration rate is dependent on the temperature of their surroundings. To warm up and speed their metabolism, cold-blooded animals often bask in the sun. Therefore, cold-blooded animals such as fish, amphibians, and reptiles, tend to be much more active in warm environments than in cold conditions.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-10471196736346125422013-04-27T08:17:00.002-07:002013-04-27T08:17:54.165-07:00Marine Bird Anatomy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMK0F_hxI1W5KlRvTlVP7Gtza6Lpntta366i8aLcUvBMVeuYO2vdE14qSs9xVQM2e9dVMaqJ5ZeMyQ12E50OvZKGJrW2ySaXcsLDC-6zsCkdS9uFpy_xEK8cDGHRM3zKc45z8D9lg34C_/s1600/01_52_9---Sea-Bird_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Marine Bird Anatomy" border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizMK0F_hxI1W5KlRvTlVP7Gtza6Lpntta366i8aLcUvBMVeuYO2vdE14qSs9xVQM2e9dVMaqJ5ZeMyQ12E50OvZKGJrW2ySaXcsLDC-6zsCkdS9uFpy_xEK8cDGHRM3zKc45z8D9lg34C_/s320/01_52_9---Sea-Bird_web.jpg" title="Marine Bird Anatomy" width="320" /></a></div>
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Birds are warm-blooded vertebrates that have feathers to insulate and protect their bodies. In most species of birds, feathers are also important adaptations for flying. As a general rule, birds devote a lot of time and energy to keeping their feathers waterproof in a process called preening. During preening, birds rub their feet, feathers, and beaks with oil produced by the preen gland near their tail.</div>
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<br />The strong, lightweight bones of birds are especially adapted for flying. Many of the bones are fused, resulting in the rigid type of skeleton needed for flight. Although birds are not very good at tasting or smelling, their senses of hearing and sight are exceptional. They maintain a constant, relatively high body temperature and a rapid rate of metabolism. To efficiently pump blood around their bodies, they have a four-chambered heart.</div>
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<br />Like marine reptiles, marine birds have glands that remove excess salt from their bodies. Although the structure and purpose of the salt gland is the same in all marine birds, its location varies by species. In most marine birds, salt accumulates in a gland near the nostrils and then oozes out of the bird’s body through the nasal openings.</div>
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<br />The term seabird is not scientific but is used to describe a wide range of birds whose lifestyles are associated with the ocean. Some seabirds never get further out into the ocean than the surf water. Many seabirds are equipped with adaptations of their bills, legs, and feet. Short, tweezerlike bills can probe for animals that are near the surface of the sand or mud, while long, slender bills reach animals that burrow deeply. For wading on wet soil, many seabirds have lobed feet, while those who walk through mud or shallow water have long legs and feet with wide toes.</div>
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<br />Other marine birds are proficient swimmers and divers who have special adaptations for spending time in water. These include wide bodies that have good underwater stability, thick layers of body fat for buoyancy, and dense plumage for warmth. In swimmers, the legs are usually located near the posterior end of the body to allow for easy maneuvers, and the feet have webs or lobes between the toes.</div>
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<br />All marine birds must come to the shore to breed and lay their eggs. Breeding grounds vary from rocky ledges to sandy beaches. More than 90 percent of marine birds are colonial and require the social stimulation of other birds to complete the breeding process. Incubation of the eggs varies from one species to the next, but as a general rule the length of incubation correlates to the size of the egg: Large eggs take longer to hatch than small ones do.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-74900373386628029932013-04-27T08:00:00.000-07:002013-04-27T08:00:09.051-07:00Seabirds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Birds, vertebrates of the class Aves, are the second largest group of vertebrates on Earth, following fish. Unlike marine reptiles, seabirds do not actually live in the water; however, they depend on the sea for their food, and their bodies are highly specialized for aquatic life. Many of the seabirds who feed on animals in the coral reefs also spend some of their time in other marine areas. All of them go to shore during parts of their lives, and some migrate from one ocean area to another.<br /> </div>
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Seabirds are among the longest-lived birds in the world, many with life spans of 30 years or more. For these animals, reproducing is a serious investment of time and energy. Compared to terrestrial avians, seabirds produce fewer offspring and the young are slower to mature, taking an average of seven years. Many choose their mates for life, and the males and females work together to incubate the eggs.</div>
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<br />There are many species of birds that nest near coral reefs and interact with the reef food webs. Some of the largest seabird families represented on the reef include frigate birds (family Fregatidae), tropic birds (Phaethontidae), petrels (Procellariidae), boobies (Sulidae), terns and noddies (Sternidae), and albatrosses (Diomedeidae).</div>
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<br />Magnificent frigate birds (Fregata magnificens) are striking black birds with deeply forked tails and wingspans of about 7.5 feet (24.6 m). They are easily recognized by their gular sacs, red membranous pouches that the males inflate during courtship. Unlike other seabirds, magnificent frigate birds do not produce a lot of preening oil. These animals rarely float or paddle in the ocean, even to gather food, so their wings require little waterproofing. Instead, most of their meals are stolen from other birds using a highly effective technique of harassment, pestering the victim so much that the irritated bird regurgitates its meal. When the stomach contents are finally disgorged, the magnificent frigate bird deftly catches the mass, often before it hits the water, and whisks it away. If there are no other birds feeding in the area, magnificent frigate birds, who are capable fishers, revert back to the predator mode and catch their own fish or squid from the water.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgZlRZO-QRv1HKav_161dD_fy4FACrNcSZvdJLYgTBGgYS29H9dF8nBB7hgOe3fCNek8A67TJIFkOEHjZs2P3wh_IHofcfIrIdsAwd02FP7WM5Wf9X69H3dVfzddLCQ7vHZLvnljHGMTG/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Magnificent frigate birds (Fregata magnificens)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgZlRZO-QRv1HKav_161dD_fy4FACrNcSZvdJLYgTBGgYS29H9dF8nBB7hgOe3fCNek8A67TJIFkOEHjZs2P3wh_IHofcfIrIdsAwd02FP7WM5Wf9X69H3dVfzddLCQ7vHZLvnljHGMTG/s1600/images.jpg" title="Magnificent frigate birds (Fregata magnificens)" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnificent frigate birds (Fregata magnificens)</td></tr>
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Reefs also support white-tailed tropic birds (Phaethon lepturus). The adults of this species have wingspans of about 37 inches (94 cm) and can be identified by the long central streamers of tail feathers, black markings on the wings, and yellow bills. Generally feeding at twilight, the white-tailed tropic bird flies high over the ocean, then gracefully dives a distance of 50–70 feet (15–20 m) in pursuit of fish and squid. To lessen the impact of the dive, the birds have shockabsorbent air-filled pouches on their chests. In nesting season, the female lays one pink-and-brown egg on the bare ground or among rocks.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8Xp4-mB_MdBGEmkYM_vnBSEUZu96qNLWfPQlA7kq9a0N71d5_03O-KHJSXlMClMwMYoGQFTaQsPoe4PdUCWeYFsVgGEyK8L0pv3UEnfdsRyJaM9GewmgmkqvAqtRIIjxBiCCfSwXRxvl/s1600/image_gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="white-tailed tropic birds (Phaethon lepturus)" border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8Xp4-mB_MdBGEmkYM_vnBSEUZu96qNLWfPQlA7kq9a0N71d5_03O-KHJSXlMClMwMYoGQFTaQsPoe4PdUCWeYFsVgGEyK8L0pv3UEnfdsRyJaM9GewmgmkqvAqtRIIjxBiCCfSwXRxvl/s320/image_gallery.jpg" title="white-tailed tropic birds (Phaethon lepturus)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White-tailed tropic birds (Phaethon lepturus)</td></tr>
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A reef bird that is capable of both diving and skimming for food is Audubon’s shearwater (Puffinus iherminieri). Its dark head and brown upper body are set off by a white belly and throat. To feed, Audubon’s shearwater flies close to the water, alternately flapping and gliding, picking up small crustaceans and fish larvae that swim near the surface. If it spots a fish or squid in deeper water, the bird dives after it. Like most shearwaters, it lays a single egg inside a hole in seaside cliffs.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatamvx-VqursHcuQMT58EzCnp1Uq0n9aKfPO27b0dqXfa2TU70ypDBqkh7blkhsDkIJKi3C_ZRYIS7oiFLobuLmQ_s9s-7A7cPiSQpH32rftWNJVf2zwgg7TFjaDKMZPrFGj-k_R0Gl1x/s1600/images1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Puffinus iherminieri" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiatamvx-VqursHcuQMT58EzCnp1Uq0n9aKfPO27b0dqXfa2TU70ypDBqkh7blkhsDkIJKi3C_ZRYIS7oiFLobuLmQ_s9s-7A7cPiSQpH32rftWNJVf2zwgg7TFjaDKMZPrFGj-k_R0Gl1x/s1600/images1.jpg" title="Puffinus iherminieri" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puffinus iherminieri</td></tr>
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The red-footed booby is the smallest member of the booby family, having a wingspan of 36 to 40 inches (91.4 to 01.6 cm). Its coloring is unusual among birds because individuals can vary from white to brown. The adults have torpedoshaped bodies, long pointed wings, distinctive bright red feet, and conical blue bills. Red-footed bobbies feed by diving for fish and squid. During mating season, a pair builds a nest in the tops of trees and usually lays two eggs; however, they only hatch one of the eggs, perhaps because competition for food is keen among marine bird populations.</div>
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<br />Sooty terns, members of the group of birds known as “sea swallows,” have forked tails, long, pointed wings, and slender bills that curve downward. Adults display distinctive blackand-white plumage, but juveniles have sooty-colored feathers on their heads and chests. Favorite foods of sooty terns include small fish and crustaceans. Each spring, thousands of the birds migrate to tropical islands to form nesting colonies that cover acres of ground. Within these sprawling assemblies, new parents work together to create nurseries where all of the young birds are kept and protected.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-52932752047861039412013-04-20T13:16:00.000-07:002013-04-20T13:16:01.043-07:00Marine Reptile Anatomy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Reptiles are not usually associated with marine environments. In fact, of the 6,000 known species of reptiles, only about 1 percent inhabits the sea. Members of this select group include lizards, crocodiles, turtles, and snakes. Each of these organisms shares many of the same anatomical structures that are found in all reptiles: They are cold-blooded, air-breathing, scaled animals that reproduce by internal fertilization. Yet, to live in salt water, this subgroup has evolved some special adaptations not seen in terrestrial reptiles.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGj0KEtdgtx0t-xvPWpNNTLkZ3EtcaP2lzRfHNYONyZz3SrGK2qfw7NW8hjjgYDBU1c1Rj3kYdNrs6OYC00MKC7ayoWrAeBY055QJjAYSnvFU_d6HRdNkoJCer8aVRqH1ZvhJr9AkqSYH/s1600/Generic+Turtle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Marine Reptile Anatomy" border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKGj0KEtdgtx0t-xvPWpNNTLkZ3EtcaP2lzRfHNYONyZz3SrGK2qfw7NW8hjjgYDBU1c1Rj3kYdNrs6OYC00MKC7ayoWrAeBY055QJjAYSnvFU_d6HRdNkoJCer8aVRqH1ZvhJr9AkqSYH/s400/Generic+Turtle.jpg" title="Marine Reptile Anatomy" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />In turtles, the shell is the most unique feature. The lightweight, streamline shape of the shell forms a protective enclosure for the vital organs. The ribs and backbone of the turtle are securely attached to the inside of the shell. The upper part of the shell, the carapace, is covered with horny plates that connect to the shell’s bottom, the plastron. Extending out from the protective shell are the marine turtle’s legs, which have been modified into paddle-like flippers capable of propelling it at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour (56 kph) through the water. These same legs are cumbersome on land, making the animals slow and their movements awkward.</div>
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<br />Most air-breathing vertebrates cannot drink salty water because it causes dehydration and kidney damage. Seawater contains sodium chloride and other salts in concentrations three times greater than blood and body fluids. Many marine reptiles drink seawater, so their bodies rely on special saltsecreting glands to handle the excess salt.</div>
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<br />To reduce the load of salt in body fluids, these glands produce and excrete fluid that is twice as salty as seawater. The glands work very quickly, processing and getting rid of salt about 10 times faster than kidneys.<br />Salt glands are located on the head, often near the eyes.</div>
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<br />There are more than 50 species of sea snakes that thrive in marine environments. Sea snakes possess adaptations such as nasal valves and close-fitting scales around the mouth that keep water out during diving. Flattened tails that look like small paddles easily propel these reptiles through the water. The lungs in sea snakes are elongated, muscular air sacs that are able to store oxygen. In addition, sea snakes can take in oxygen through the skin. Their adaptations to the marine environment enable sea snakes to stay submerged from 30 minutes up to two hours; however, this ability comes at a cost. Because marine snakes routinely swim to the surface to breathe, they use more energy and have higher metabolic rates than land snakes. To balance their high energy consumption, they require more food than their terrestrial counterparts.</div>
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<br />Finally, crocodiles usually occupy freshwater, but there are some species that live in brackish water (in between salt water and freshwater) and salt water. These animals have salivary glands that have been modified to excrete salt. Their tails are flattened for side-to-side swimming and their toes possess well-developed webs. Saltwater crocodiles are equipped with valves at the back of the throat that enable them to open their mouths and feed underwater without flooding their lungs.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-71580353362515137982013-04-16T05:20:00.001-07:002013-04-16T05:20:24.510-07:00Marine Reptiles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfA-Yw8LuPyuSa5RUejR1rYSN-gaKLBj-F7sqmTvOy8LOyqsZeyqwAX_xEHVprHb3qcM5czaRUVpS_EhG76nMPz0YMCTKeV32KH0TcbbsfObgr93t_7XvGSqkJ98JUUosSlpFjcmX6ulsa/s1600/0014222d98500f29a6de0e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Marine Reptiles" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfA-Yw8LuPyuSa5RUejR1rYSN-gaKLBj-F7sqmTvOy8LOyqsZeyqwAX_xEHVprHb3qcM5czaRUVpS_EhG76nMPz0YMCTKeV32KH0TcbbsfObgr93t_7XvGSqkJ98JUUosSlpFjcmX6ulsa/s320/0014222d98500f29a6de0e.jpg" title="Marine Reptiles" width="320" /></a></div>
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Among the reptiles, only a small number of species have become adapted for life in the sea. Of these, just a few are fulltime reef residents. Reptiles frequently found around reefs include the sea turtles and sea snakes.</div>
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<br />Sea turtles move through the water with the grace of ballerinas. These large reptiles, related to the more familiar but generally smaller land turtles, are superbly adapted for sea life. Their limbs are modified as strong flippers that effortlessly push their streamlined bodies through the water.</div>
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<br />Turtles are such expert swimmers and so perfectly designed for their lifestyles that it would be easy to think of them as big fish; however, unlike fish, turtles must swim to the surface to breathe. These animals have lungs instead of gills, and they breathe through their noses. Even though active turtles need to surface every few minutes, they are capable of staying under water for long periods of time by holding their breath. When resting in caves or on ledges, sea turtles may remain submerged up to two and one-half hours.</div>
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<br />As true marine animals, sea turtles rarely leave the ocean. The only reason they visit the shore is to lay eggs, and then only the females emerge. Nesting females always return to the beaches where they were born to lay their eggs (see Figure below). Males accompany them only as far as the shallow water.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUU99K_t_6P_L4lpWqk9XU_iJDxW8CQWg-4KPX12RBHUJgj_-eGs4ZpsPPn5JKjXUNDlQ1UdvjFBR5-Ufio8hTDxaFcju6vBkDPf4m2dbC-39iEQAp6g_DatndOzjxu_6oHFuTBV73hon/s1600/4-16-2013+6-58-17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sea turtles dig nests on sandy beaches where they lay their eggs." border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUU99K_t_6P_L4lpWqk9XU_iJDxW8CQWg-4KPX12RBHUJgj_-eGs4ZpsPPn5JKjXUNDlQ1UdvjFBR5-Ufio8hTDxaFcju6vBkDPf4m2dbC-39iEQAp6g_DatndOzjxu_6oHFuTBV73hon/s400/4-16-2013+6-58-17+PM.png" title="Sea turtles dig nests on sandy beaches where they lay their eggs." width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea turtles dig nests on sandy beaches<br />where they lay their eggs.</td></tr>
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Several species of sea turtles occasionally visit the coral reef; however, two species are reef residents: the Atlantic hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). From time to time they may be joined by other species of marine turtles that take time out of their migratory travels to rest and eat in luxurious reef accommodations. The green sea turtle is an impressive animal that grows up to 3.5 feet (1.1m) long and can weigh 400 pounds (181 kg). As seen in the upper color insert on page C-8, its carapace, the upper shell, is mottled in shades of dark brown on top and creamy white below. This type of dark-on-top, light-onthe-bottom coloration, called countershading, makes turtles hard to see in the water. From above, their carapace looks like the seafloor, and from below the plastron, the lower shell, blends in with the sky. Such camouflaging helps turtles get close to their prey before striking. It also helps them avoid sharks, their only predators.</div>
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<br />Every two or three years, sexually mature green sea turtles make long journeys to mate and lay their eggs. They leave their feeding grounds and swim 600 miles or more, returning to the beaches where the females were born. During the months of March and April, mating occurs in offshore waters, then the females go ashore to lay their eggs. Green sea turtles have the ability to retain viable sperm for months after mating. The eggs laid at one mating were fertilized much earlier.</div>
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<br />No longer supported by the water’s buoyancy, female green sea turtles drag themselves across the beach to sandy spots above the tide line. While ashore, they shed sticky tears that keep their eyes moist and free of sand. Using powerful hind legs, each female digs an egg chamber, a task that may take the entire night. When the chamber is finally finished, the female deposits 100–200 eggs, each about the size of a Ping-Pong ball, then covers the nest and returns to the sea.</div>
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<br />Hatching begins after 60 days of incubation, usually early in July. Working together, the hatchlings scrape sand off the roof of the nest and pack it into the nest floor, a strategy that builds up the nest until it is almost even with the beach.</div>
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<br />Using moonlight reflected in the ocean water as a beacon, all of the hatchlings scramble from the nest one evening and race toward the water. Some are picked off by birds and crabs on the beach, and others are grabbed by fish waiting for them in the shallow water.</div>
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<br />Those that survive strike out on their own, swimming nonstop for the next 36 to 48 hours. When they get out far enough, the baby turtles are picked up by currents and carried into the open ocean. Green sea turtles remain at sea for several years, feeding on jellyfish and other invertebrates. When they are juveniles, they return to the reef areas where adults are living. There, young turtles join the colony, grazing on algae among corals and rocks.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFQxvA3bKutRCx6OJnjDQhKwEm5bNbmarVrBTeBFWAZKtkSEzE68gpEmSbsN-rFyo2JCy8dGEZGbCEoWevm9FWi3SBhNOSekJyeEPWOVjmvVbPgSsXgMl3cXOQs7S0ofLbH5R0KdNPMrI/s1600/hawksbill-turtle_774_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A hawksbill sea turtle swims around the coral reef." border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirFQxvA3bKutRCx6OJnjDQhKwEm5bNbmarVrBTeBFWAZKtkSEzE68gpEmSbsN-rFyo2JCy8dGEZGbCEoWevm9FWi3SBhNOSekJyeEPWOVjmvVbPgSsXgMl3cXOQs7S0ofLbH5R0KdNPMrI/s320/hawksbill-turtle_774_600x450.jpg" title="A hawksbill sea turtle swims around the coral reef." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hawksbill sea turtle swims around<br />the coral reef.</td></tr>
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The Atlantic hawksbill sea turtle, pictured in Figure 6.2, is another reef resident. With an orange, brown, or yellow carapace that measures up to 35.8 inches (91 cm) long, the hawksbill can weigh 100–150 pounds (40–60 kg). The head of the turtle is narrow, with two pairs of scales in front of the eyes and a hawklike jaw that accounts for its name. The shape of this turtle’s mouth is ideal for reaching into the cracks and crevices of coral reef where it finds sponges, octopuses, and shrimps. The hawksbill also eats squid that are swimming in the water column. After eating, it rests on the ledges and caves of the reef.</div>
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<br />Nest building and egg laying occur every two to three years, preceded by mating in areas of shallow water. Male hawksbill turtles can be distinguished from females by their long tails. A female nests two to four times during each egglaying season, depositing about 160 eggs in each clutch.</div>
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<br />Renesting females will usually return to the same part of the beach, often building her second and third nests within sight of the first one. After 50 to 70 days of incubation, hatchlings climb out of the nest and make their way to the sea. Mortality rates are very high, but the ones who survive swim out to sea. Like the green sea turtles, they are not usually seen again until they return to the area as juveniles.</div>
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<br />Sea snakes make up 86 percent of the marine reptiles, and they are primarily found in tropical waters. Some species, including the olive sea snake (Aipysurus laevis), live around reefs. With a stout, round body that averages about 3.9 feet (1.2 m) in length, the snake varies in color, ranging from dark brown to purplish brown on the dorsal side, fading to light brown on the ventral surface. The flattened tail is creamy white and has a brown ridge on the dorsal side.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgan6nJTKjhnnwXikPXuInCpW6jQmNd0hwZegBICOCNaMk2hoLu2sXcXJCKmcJFpoLVFc5_Ga2VvTJKl_4ySQqSgONNeNXgjKCy_GRs6z7WnYKY8CIpcR-9xoihq3kEyVPeunsuQH2ZzMK_/s1600/olive-brown-sea-snake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Aipysurus laevis" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgan6nJTKjhnnwXikPXuInCpW6jQmNd0hwZegBICOCNaMk2hoLu2sXcXJCKmcJFpoLVFc5_Ga2VvTJKl_4ySQqSgONNeNXgjKCy_GRs6z7WnYKY8CIpcR-9xoihq3kEyVPeunsuQH2ZzMK_/s320/olive-brown-sea-snake.jpg" title="Aipysurus laevis" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aipysurus laevis</td></tr>
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The olive sea snake prefers reef waters that are 16.4 to 147.6 feet (5 to 45 m) deep where they can prey on fish, fish eggs, cuttlefish, and crabs yet surface quickly for air. During the day, the snake feeds by weaving among coral structures in search of animals that are at rest. When prey is located, the snake uses constriction to hold the victim while it injects venom with its fangs. The olive sea snake’s venom contains enzymes that begin digesting the prey from the inside.</div>
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<br />After courtship in the open water, olive sea snake mating takes place on the reef floor. Competition for mates is fierce and several males may vie for a single female. The young snakes, which are born alive, grow quickly, maturing in four to five years.</div>
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<br />Even though not as numerous as the olive sea snake, the turtle-headed sea snake makes it home on many reefs. Preferring lagoons to energetic parts of the reef, this snake is often found in large aggregates. The turtle-headed sea snake is a daytime feeder that slowly moves through the reef, seeking out small fish and crustaceans that it immobilizes with venom. It also feeds on the eggs of fish, such as gobies and blennies, that spawn in the lagoon, scooping them up from the reef floor with its hard pointed snout, the feature that most resembles a turtle’s head. The snake is a voracious eater and feeds every two or three hours.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-72776720305791916592013-04-13T02:40:00.002-07:002013-04-13T02:40:15.132-07:00Coral reef communities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAJcJY_bO_kM7wBgRUY4DmttCR0p8Px90yCSRtcjj6mhaT3wyhx3vKqD95Cznlq4_eigl7eKclQOXlvmssDUfMEk0BIcoQeTHX1D-_QORyPnF44S1OMIBR2pKoV00aKUslBDYHn-9S5Yp/s1600/tropical-fish-group1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Coral reef communities" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpAJcJY_bO_kM7wBgRUY4DmttCR0p8Px90yCSRtcjj6mhaT3wyhx3vKqD95Cznlq4_eigl7eKclQOXlvmssDUfMEk0BIcoQeTHX1D-_QORyPnF44S1OMIBR2pKoV00aKUslBDYHn-9S5Yp/s320/tropical-fish-group1.jpg" title="Coral reef communities" width="320" /></a></div>
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Coral reef communities support a larger number and greater diversity of fish than any other aquatic habitat. Reef fish are specialized for a variety of feeding strategies and habitats, adaptations that permit different species to feed within the same area and on similar food supplies. Damselfish, for example, primarily feed on algae that grow on top of the coral skeletons, but parrot fish prefer the algae within the coral polyps.</div>
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<br />Many reef fish are predators of fish or invertebrates. Even though the most impressive hunting fish are large, there are an equal number of smaller, less obvious ones. Hunters patrol the area day and night, even at dusk and dawn when fish are moving to their refuges.</div>
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<br />A good number of reef fish are plankton eaters, including soldierfish and cardinals. Plankton feeders are not closely related to one another but share similar lifestyles. Usually they have small, streamlined bodies and forked tails, which are good at delivering bursts of speed to escape predators. They tend to feed in groups for safety.</div>
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<br />The plant-eating reef fish include surgeonfish and damselfish, animals that use their sharp-edged teeth to clean the coral reef of algae. Alga has a tendency to grow quickly and can eventually smother and “choke” a reef to death if it is not kept in check. Grazing fish are critical to maintaining the balance of algal cover on the reef while at the same time supplying themselves with a source of energy.</div>
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<br />Large populations and intense competition have led to the development of reef fish that fill every niche of the ecosystem. Scientists are still working to discover all of the fish that make their homes around the reef and to understand the evolutionary pressures that have resulted in these varied and colorful reef residents.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-864467744136740942013-04-13T02:34:00.002-07:002013-04-13T02:34:22.153-07:00Territoriality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Fish living close together may show territorial behavior, the tendency to occupy and defend an area, usually to eat and reproduce there. There are many different patterns of territorial behavior. Some species are territorial all the time, but others may only display this behavior during reproductive periods. Depending on the situation, fish may be territorial against their own species, toward other species, or both.</div>
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<br />Territorial behavior requires a lot of energy, and a fish cannot afford to expend more energy on defending its territory than it takes in as food. For this reason, fish have developed several threatening displays that involve<br />a lot of posturing and ritualized motions yet conserve energy. If an intruder gets close to a damselfish’s alga garden, for example, the damselfish first attempts to scare it away with a threatening posture of spread fins and gill covers. If this strategy does not solve the problem, the damselfish makes excited, aggressive movements. Only as a last resort will it attempt to chase away an intruder, as actual chase could lead to a fight that might end in the death of the defender.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoou2u0_tL7rq_w8LkSURyw9tUer_X27zGKOb4I_5ANmTn2Hm7ONbAC0XyXve2nVtOx8lSQ-Cg20dy-XDlX3PG0eajMnnWIj6l4Yf3lpu3dka32ACn77PoKxFJNgZD-CUB38nIUM8mrwEx/s1600/220px-Cocoa_damselfish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="damselfish" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoou2u0_tL7rq_w8LkSURyw9tUer_X27zGKOb4I_5ANmTn2Hm7ONbAC0XyXve2nVtOx8lSQ-Cg20dy-XDlX3PG0eajMnnWIj6l4Yf3lpu3dka32ACn77PoKxFJNgZD-CUB38nIUM8mrwEx/s1600/220px-Cocoa_damselfish.jpg" title="damselfish" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damselfish</td></tr>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-6311242885647322512013-04-13T01:18:00.002-07:002013-04-13T01:18:38.929-07:00Schooling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Fish often school, or swim together, in large groups. Schools of fish may be polarized, with all the fish swimming in the same direction, or non-polarized, with fish swimming in many directions. Both types of schools improve an individual fish’s chance of survival. A large school of fish may be able to confuse a predator into thinking that it is one big, dangerous organism instead of a group of small, helpless fish. In addition, if a fish is in a school, it stands a good chance of being spared when a predator does attack. Plus, a school of fish has more lookouts than one fish swimming alone, and is more likely to notice danger.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkwOs1A0wBWEYmUAlH6RksmwPYA_mhqyMFXSC6hetr7lVeu02RUqqwky8leThFG_LjECgMdzcS0JlZ36ywDtkVukeWbTK-8RKdeB3IttKhBNLdnR3EvgBMDKBEH6elYS3NpfdjLbTN4Dx/s1600/butterflyfish-undersea_18354_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Schools of fish" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkwOs1A0wBWEYmUAlH6RksmwPYA_mhqyMFXSC6hetr7lVeu02RUqqwky8leThFG_LjECgMdzcS0JlZ36ywDtkVukeWbTK-8RKdeB3IttKhBNLdnR3EvgBMDKBEH6elYS3NpfdjLbTN4Dx/s320/butterflyfish-undersea_18354_600x450.jpg" title="Schools of fish" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schools of fish - Butterflyfish</td></tr>
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Some kinds of fish, such as groupers, only form schools when it is time to spawn. This strategy ensures that the males and females will release their gametes into the water at the same time. If egg predators are nearby, they will eat some of the eggs but may not be able to eat all of them, so some will probably survive. Foraging for food can also bring a group of fish together. As a school, foraging fish like mackerel and herring have plenty of sets of eyes that improve the chances of finding something to eat. By working as a team, the school may be able to overwhelm and take prey that one fish alone could not handle.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-89478063759351181252013-04-13T01:03:00.000-07:002013-04-13T01:03:08.927-07:00Sea Horses, Surgeonfish, and Remoras<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sea horses and their close relatives, the pipefishes and sea dragons, have a distinctive appearance. Unlike other bony fish, the elongated bodies of these animals are supported by rings of bone. All of these fish feed through tubelike mouths that suck in small crustaceans and other prey. Instead of chasing their food, they quietly hover in the water and wait for something edible to swim by.</div>
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<br />A sea horse, swims upright among the corals or sea grasses, moving slowly from one perch to another. To keep from drifting away, a seahorse may hold in place by wrapping its prehensile tail around a plant or piece of coral. Pipefish and sea dragons swim like other kinds of fish, with their heads leading. A pipefish has a long, thin shape, so it resemble grass or reeds. In contrast, sea dragons are covered in leaflike appendages that help camouflage them as they float in beds of leafy seaweeds.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS89O1e0cwaV0J6MhX0iNqauF6swdS7-Aif4qQz8T63beqzhhEu4ZizKc4lc6Zy8NXIHPfp04nTaTTnqywXORdO9mWHlz4xbwpvJPK9R-EEWWj7sxsnbsYEbSqfJAQz9Foo7HDd6626sQF/s1600/Sea+Horse2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A sea horse clings to marine plants with its prehensile tail." border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS89O1e0cwaV0J6MhX0iNqauF6swdS7-Aif4qQz8T63beqzhhEu4ZizKc4lc6Zy8NXIHPfp04nTaTTnqywXORdO9mWHlz4xbwpvJPK9R-EEWWj7sxsnbsYEbSqfJAQz9Foo7HDd6626sQF/s320/Sea+Horse2.jpg" title="A sea horse clings to marine plants with its prehensile tail." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sea horse clings to marine plants<br />with its prehensile tail.</td></tr>
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In all groups, the males take care of the eggs. After eggs form in the female’s body, they are transferred to a thinskinned pouch on the male. He fertilizes the eggs, then carries them until they develop and hatch, providing them protection from predators.</div>
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The surgeonfish, a group that includes the tangs, are represented by more than 70 species on the reef. All are brightly colored and have oval bodies that are wide and flat. Surgeonfish get their name from the scalpel-like scales that grow at the base of their tails. These razor sharp scales remain folded neatly against the body most of the time but become erect when they sense danger. Surgeonfish can seriously wound predators by swimming beside them, lashing their bodies back and forth.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4Qp4WEztPUVJC-ZhEJHtmlQMC-bSHwKY5cfpIPzY2Y9Jt7kddWTWrfRhs81QdBmCDu7TeftrFupONUTU11_Fh8adft_-FcujUylgyYv6G7pwz91lBav0OrGEm-ETHvlfyZSVGsM6MtaZ/s1600/Paracanthurus+hepatus+Blue+tang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="surgeonfish" border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe4Qp4WEztPUVJC-ZhEJHtmlQMC-bSHwKY5cfpIPzY2Y9Jt7kddWTWrfRhs81QdBmCDu7TeftrFupONUTU11_Fh8adft_-FcujUylgyYv6G7pwz91lBav0OrGEm-ETHvlfyZSVGsM6MtaZ/s320/Paracanthurus+hepatus+Blue+tang.jpg" title="surgeonfish" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surgeonfish</td></tr>
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Most surgeonfish species are herbivores. They swim around the reef in small groups grazing algae, very much like a herd of cows might roam through a pasture. Their small incisorlike teeth are adept at scraping algae off the rocks and reef. Occasionally, a large group of surgeonfish will overwhelm a territorial damselfish and gorge on the “farmer’s” algal garden.</div>
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<br />A close relative of the surgeonfish is the graceful Moorish idol (Zanclus cornutus), which can grow to 8 inches (20 cm) and is distinguished by a long dorsal fin. Using its protruding lips and long snout, the Moorish idol probes into crevices for food that many other fish are unable to reach. Sponges are the fish’s favorite food, but it also feeds on algae.</div>
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<br />Butterfly fish (family Chaetodontidae) are some of the most colorful reef fish. These beautiful animals flitter around the reef with a butterfly-like motion. They primarily feed on coral polyps, although they may also consume small invertebrates. When feeding, butterfly fish tend to bite off several polyps within a small area, then move on to another place, a technique that does not kill the coral. Most live in male-female pairs, and together they claim and protect regions of coral from intruders.</div>
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The flattened bodies of butterfly fish offer them some protection from predators. They can easily slip into cracks in the reef where they open their fins to wedge their bodies tightly in place. The fish are so thin that they seem to disappear when they face a predator head on. Butterfly fish, such as the spotfin butterfly fish in the lower color insert on page C-7, further confuse their enemies with a large eyespot near their tails. These marking can fool a predator into lunging for the wrong end of the animal. There are many different species of angelfish. Food choices vary by species, but as a group angelfish are daytime feeders that favor sponges, tunicates, and algae, nibbling at them with their brushlike teeth. Most species are very territorial, often occupying and defending a small cave or some other space for several years.</div>
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<br />As in parrot fish, all individuals in certain species of angelfish begin life as females. As they mature, a number of the females change into males. Color plays an important role in angelfish interactions. The two sexes can be visually distinguished by their slightly different coloring, and the marking and colors of juveniles are different from those of adults. This may protect the young fish from aggressive adults of their own species.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibOQQCOK8TJetAEk5tvqXZWF36rFM7jv4FMSVENxOiKhN8JgvKX53jNy-KxfYJt0Om02rqwE-dc20nGsZzMP38kRhKMIDyv8ujf2hF5oIjAy47mDq-lfbAT4qD9qndIRu0ZVL1YzxTuFjX/s1600/000000825833Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="parrot fish" border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibOQQCOK8TJetAEk5tvqXZWF36rFM7jv4FMSVENxOiKhN8JgvKX53jNy-KxfYJt0Om02rqwE-dc20nGsZzMP38kRhKMIDyv8ujf2hF5oIjAy47mDq-lfbAT4qD9qndIRu0ZVL1YzxTuFjX/s320/000000825833Small.jpg" title="parrot fish" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parrot fish</td></tr>
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Remoras are slim fish that are usually 1 to 3 feet (0.9 m) long. Their dorsal fins are modified into sucking disks, which they use to attach themselves to sharks, whales, rays, or turtles. This behavior may benefit the remora, who often eats the leftovers from its host’s meals. Being attached to a big animal also protects the smaller fish from predators. If it chooses to do so, the smaller fish can swim away from its host to forage. If no hosts are available, remoras will form schools that swim around in spiral patterns, with the largest animals on bottom and the smallest on top.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOUwwE3wjS1dIXsv04Ikiy1DqhbqbxVsga3K8LqyRGuG_8kFKYtKHy7DmYA1zei1lHrXxuAPg9g-cHDRcAEmE_JCkMjaVCAVvX7TQaKZEBBAeJ2BC26OH0rEh1QMA3UT1tuRj8QLrqyDG/s1600/tumblr_m45ixwhjcX1qfip1bo1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Remoras" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOUwwE3wjS1dIXsv04Ikiy1DqhbqbxVsga3K8LqyRGuG_8kFKYtKHy7DmYA1zei1lHrXxuAPg9g-cHDRcAEmE_JCkMjaVCAVvX7TQaKZEBBAeJ2BC26OH0rEh1QMA3UT1tuRj8QLrqyDG/s320/tumblr_m45ixwhjcX1qfip1bo1_400.jpg" title="Remoras" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remoras</td></tr>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-13397294570299309832013-04-12T12:53:00.001-07:002013-04-12T12:53:34.078-07:00Grunts, Wrasses, Gobies, and Flounders<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A reef is a pretty noisy place to live. One family of fish, the grunts, get their name from the grunting noise they make by grinding their pharyngeal teeth. Grunts are pretty, deep-bodied fish that are generally found traveling in schools. The French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) has yellow stripes on a silver background or blue stripes on orange.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WWBqV-F7i6EP3efiB7exKtgDU4lwaSPNUVVZx8tNP_yeUob2yflkoEarM8J89USAk1sHIG7CnAMczMCIWGBP0oHgrBxawAHKlt9xM6J2LJ6WToBAvHE0cBcl2VGhc9sjgMes-Y-pGIqz/s1600/French_Grunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WWBqV-F7i6EP3efiB7exKtgDU4lwaSPNUVVZx8tNP_yeUob2yflkoEarM8J89USAk1sHIG7CnAMczMCIWGBP0oHgrBxawAHKlt9xM6J2LJ6WToBAvHE0cBcl2VGhc9sjgMes-Y-pGIqz/s320/French_Grunt.jpg" title="The French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The French grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)</td></tr>
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Wrasses are a large group of fish that are well represented on the reef. Most are small, averaging about 9 inches (23 cm) long, with cigar-shaped bodies, pointed snouts, and prominent canine teeth. During the daytime wrasses feed, and at night they hide in crevices or buried in sand. Wrasses feed in several ways, depending on their species.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcv_veJMh5j-FiWhgKvMg_nsn-65UxhquFQqQ3EZwuQoiZs_KKmQHVRxZNkGmHKOyFBslzACVm98t-1lRhF6AyquLlcKIlTesilJ8pJgI7tQQzbVt8_zdOO1U7fdUOLTdgmttbZP0nR-I/s1600/VelvetWrasseTMW_U8_med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Wrasses" border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcv_veJMh5j-FiWhgKvMg_nsn-65UxhquFQqQ3EZwuQoiZs_KKmQHVRxZNkGmHKOyFBslzACVm98t-1lRhF6AyquLlcKIlTesilJ8pJgI7tQQzbVt8_zdOO1U7fdUOLTdgmttbZP0nR-I/s320/VelvetWrasseTMW_U8_med.jpg" title="Wrasses" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrasses</td></tr>
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The cleaner wrasses remove mucus, parasites, and scales from the bodies of larger fishes. Another species exhibits “following behavior” to find prey. As larger fish swim through the substrate and disturb it, these wrasses follow closely, picking up invertebrates that the large fish overlook. A different species of wrasses searches the reef for invertebrates too small for most fishes to prey upon. Finally, some wrasses flip over rocks and pieces of coral with their snouts, looking for hidden invertebrates. There are more species of gobies on the reef than any other kind of fish. These small animals, which measure less than 2 inches (5 cm), have prominent eyes set high on their heads.</div>
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Gobies spend most of their time hiding among rocks, corals, or shells. Some make their homes inside of other living things like sponges and the shells of mollusks, and a few share burrows with shrimp.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75BFUWFPJ2bl5N-ujSL-l5Av4FJRw6PJdCa2NJ-JlVqfD_xBjxENy6f3oCly1-fuiEKU23dj9V5kghfR68DaNKtNb3CtGD_86GoRXljFM-Qdh2XVEAN6zI7sX8E3w6opURZeeugaaYbNo/s1600/yellow-prawn-gobies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gobies" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi75BFUWFPJ2bl5N-ujSL-l5Av4FJRw6PJdCa2NJ-JlVqfD_xBjxENy6f3oCly1-fuiEKU23dj9V5kghfR68DaNKtNb3CtGD_86GoRXljFM-Qdh2XVEAN6zI7sX8E3w6opURZeeugaaYbNo/s320/yellow-prawn-gobies.jpg" title="Gobies" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gobies</td></tr>
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The peacock flounder (Bothus lunatus) is a reef flatfish that usually hides in the sand and sediment on the reef floor. Like other kinds of fish, the peacock flounder begins life with bilateral eyes and a mouth in the middle of its face; however, as the fish matures, one eye begins to migrate toward the other one so that by maturity both eyes and the mouth are located on one side of the head. Peacock flounders do not have swim bladders, so they sink to reef floor and remain there, often wriggling around enough to bury their bodies in the sand with just their eyes and gill opercula exposed. The skin of a peacock flounder is covered with brown spots, but can change colors to camouflage the fish.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPAvmbep1Y6tJLin2PR-R82NbLWNxI1Rc3KERD4CbR6DDhd1UyI53jkRQPystRy5b9vHmSJQzOpIrdSYTUaOJcrb7pTxNxgGjxl1s8qagOBctYPVF3k1WsMW_wEIxnXcYW-DH3CQYv66w/s1600/Fish1346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The peacock flounder (Bothus lunatus)" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPAvmbep1Y6tJLin2PR-R82NbLWNxI1Rc3KERD4CbR6DDhd1UyI53jkRQPystRy5b9vHmSJQzOpIrdSYTUaOJcrb7pTxNxgGjxl1s8qagOBctYPVF3k1WsMW_wEIxnXcYW-DH3CQYv66w/s320/Fish1346.jpg" title="The peacock flounder (Bothus lunatus)" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The peacock flounder (Bothus lunatus)</td></tr>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-62610941269828063972013-04-12T10:47:00.002-07:002013-04-12T10:47:33.162-07:00Scorpion Fish, Catfish, and Eels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Another fish that depends on camouflage is the scorpion fish (family Scorpaenidae), a heavy animal with ridges and spines on its back. The fins and spines contain venom that protects this fish from predators. Warts and skin tassels covering its body make the scorpion fish look like part of the reef. This animal waits patiently for prey to get close then literally sucks it in.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDsN7nY_BDxnArsNn901f06GmmpDTxw_j9Z7HXQVna-BfmBtVmv9lgLHfS26di4JPtcqpUcSm61V0CadBLjDzORQMhwCJjMSftB_7smMpXe6Dli5eaRn1Iv2UgnPKgX2KE0xYKmVnQqlgi/s1600/Scorpion_fish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="scorpion fish (family Scorpaenidae)" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDsN7nY_BDxnArsNn901f06GmmpDTxw_j9Z7HXQVna-BfmBtVmv9lgLHfS26di4JPtcqpUcSm61V0CadBLjDzORQMhwCJjMSftB_7smMpXe6Dli5eaRn1Iv2UgnPKgX2KE0xYKmVnQqlgi/s320/Scorpion_fish.jpg" title="scorpion fish (family Scorpaenidae)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scorpion fish (family Scorpaenidae)</td></tr>
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<br />The bandtail puffer (Spheroides spengleri), like other species of puffers, has a very different way of protecting itself. By filling its abdomen with water, the little fish can inflate its body, giving it a bigger and fiercer appearance. In addition, an inflated fish is more difficult for a predator to swallow than an uninflated one.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDg1FTtRwalwvUqYB45otjerYDqFE3G18iN9g7M7H4nYOzLe5sOssNKrDo9HKQKBlgY3S-jQA8G-Lkdai-umtL-ZJQkTtMCGtpQxBkBHEbJeccI4L_STZykh_UO3C9Tlhg3B2oLJGvCHaI/s1600/Spheroides_spengleri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="bandtail puffer (Spheroides spengleri)" border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDg1FTtRwalwvUqYB45otjerYDqFE3G18iN9g7M7H4nYOzLe5sOssNKrDo9HKQKBlgY3S-jQA8G-Lkdai-umtL-ZJQkTtMCGtpQxBkBHEbJeccI4L_STZykh_UO3C9Tlhg3B2oLJGvCHaI/s320/Spheroides_spengleri.jpg" title="bandtail puffer (Spheroides spengleri)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bandtail puffer (Spheroides spengleri)</td></tr>
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A close relative, the porcupine fish (Diodon hystix), uses the same mechanism when it feels threatened. Porcupine fish are covered with damaging sharp spines that deter predators. Shallow reef waters and turtle grass beds are some of the places where porcupine fish hunt for prey. Both porcupine fish and bandtail puffers have two fused teeth in each jaw that give their mouths a beaklike appearance. This type of jaw is efficient at crushing the hard shells of crabs and mollusks.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_gY2HaOE3jFlP9E6_JEiC7mzFmaUFl9dQKey3CiPa4Ms-hoQv0RZP5r2PiOu7tRKsO7e0ju3fqw9Ian5MJEuYsM6fptWVjQp1AgK7ovMdU89vxrUF7Bk2TE4GSE_MA4xOUgxCM2mV2iI/s1600/DIODON+HYSTRIX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="porcupine fish (Diodon hystix)" border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI_gY2HaOE3jFlP9E6_JEiC7mzFmaUFl9dQKey3CiPa4Ms-hoQv0RZP5r2PiOu7tRKsO7e0ju3fqw9Ian5MJEuYsM6fptWVjQp1AgK7ovMdU89vxrUF7Bk2TE4GSE_MA4xOUgxCM2mV2iI/s320/DIODON+HYSTRIX.jpg" title="porcupine fish (Diodon hystix)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Porcupine fish (Diodon hystix)</td></tr>
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The moray eel (family Muraenidae), seen in the upper color insert on page C-7 has a fearsome reputation because its gaping mouth is full of sharp teeth. In reality members of this group are shy and retiring animals that spend their days hiding in reef crevices. Morays hold their mouths open so that water can be pumped over the gills. Their long, muscular bodies are highly modified for living among rocks and coral. Morays are scale-less, and both their pectoral and pelvic fins are absent. In addition, their remaining fins are fleshy ridges that are covered with thick skin. This body streamlining is an adaptation that helps morays navigate through the narrow passages of the reef structure. When they emerge at night to look for invertebrates, they swim by moving their entire bodies back and forth in an S-shaped pattern.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_QjB_JygltOQQOhFp1EIlZyGGLDKMkn44JJIPSzHUS27bkefY1L_b9sFu7uDQCm5SFb8fK5dFBwryHZWZwASWiqhyphenhyphend6tw8HTkVyucmAw_9IxXdYx35dzJVvJDSDNfvR8lbIFAKQ4drFY/s1600/Moray+Eel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The moray eel (family Muraenidae)" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX_QjB_JygltOQQOhFp1EIlZyGGLDKMkn44JJIPSzHUS27bkefY1L_b9sFu7uDQCm5SFb8fK5dFBwryHZWZwASWiqhyphenhyphend6tw8HTkVyucmAw_9IxXdYx35dzJVvJDSDNfvR8lbIFAKQ4drFY/s320/Moray+Eel.jpg" title="The moray eel (family Muraenidae)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moray eel (family Muraenidae)</td></tr>
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Another long, fierce-looking reef fish is the great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), a slender animal whose body ends in a pointed head with a narrow snout and sharp teeth. Barracudas usually hover around the edges of reefs, waiting for prey to appear. Once a potential meal is spotted, they rush forward aggressively to grab it. Some barracudas reach impressive lengths of 6 feet (1.8 m).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HDRK-xVevBPOT1prBK2N7BCwVFyg9n3PCg3qEQo3fXsbK3lOwIGwoX5xqh0kGqUVf_qPow_7i-QevgkXwDyV-TEmaVLaG2Ub_v9r6KX-rrxm32beHKTxuHCXeza8FXjW7Sru1fJjdFPC/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda)" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7HDRK-xVevBPOT1prBK2N7BCwVFyg9n3PCg3qEQo3fXsbK3lOwIGwoX5xqh0kGqUVf_qPow_7i-QevgkXwDyV-TEmaVLaG2Ub_v9r6KX-rrxm32beHKTxuHCXeza8FXjW7Sru1fJjdFPC/s200/9.jpg" title="The great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda)" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda)</td></tr>
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The only catfish on the reef are the coral catfish (Phetusus angularis). These small fish have venomous notched spines near their dorsal and pectoral fins. When young, coral catfish school, or live in groups, by the hundreds near the reef floor; however, as they get older, they form smaller groups of about 20 animals. Maturity also changes they way they look. Young catfish are black, but adults develop a brown color with yellow or white horizontal stripes. They feed on crustaceans, mollusks, and worms, which they find by stirring up the reef floor.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_apUiqMqBWB42AZYPVOaAgyi-MLsoF5VOFXRkZ4YGe6OQdSn_T-LNxM7KgWJxvgajGWJhk4QFJ9jfyWNdLr2WQeBPpAhRzjo7JY-bCXuPEH9IaNNCG3FhCURIFOU2M72cbV71BdNsDCAB/s1600/p1032952081-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="catfish (Phetusus angularis)" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_apUiqMqBWB42AZYPVOaAgyi-MLsoF5VOFXRkZ4YGe6OQdSn_T-LNxM7KgWJxvgajGWJhk4QFJ9jfyWNdLr2WQeBPpAhRzjo7JY-bCXuPEH9IaNNCG3FhCURIFOU2M72cbV71BdNsDCAB/s320/p1032952081-3.jpg" title="catfish (Phetusus angularis)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catfish (Phetusus angularis)</td></tr>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-21799140954349029072013-04-12T10:03:00.002-07:002013-04-12T10:13:56.903-07:00Damselfish, Clown Fish, Cardinal Fish, and Squirrelfish<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Another colorful and abundant reef fish is the damselfish, a delicate-looking animal with a small mouth. Damselfish nibble on the encrusting algae that grow on coral and rock. These red, yellow, orange, or blue fish grow to be about 6 inches (15 cm) long.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWAuQwebxPvMN6L4LGWX1SAYl_DleN0WizeyQPKsakzn2z_nvQsgwao292OmN3aOvWjYxijkBgsLVd8FsPMravNTWevDpMqwIOQU_talmdkBZIp63KodfGxkDrG77AHF2LpMhH-hSOVCY4/s1600/0708-Long-finned-Damselfish-juvenile-l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="damselfish" border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWAuQwebxPvMN6L4LGWX1SAYl_DleN0WizeyQPKsakzn2z_nvQsgwao292OmN3aOvWjYxijkBgsLVd8FsPMravNTWevDpMqwIOQU_talmdkBZIp63KodfGxkDrG77AHF2LpMhH-hSOVCY4/s320/0708-Long-finned-Damselfish-juvenile-l.jpg" title="damselfish" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damselfish</td></tr>
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Like most damselfish, the Pacific gregory (Stegastes fasciolatus) is active during the day. Most of this fish’s time is spent “farming” a patch of alga that may cover up to 10.7 square feet (1 sq. m) of the reef. An excellent gardener, the little damselfish weeds out unwanted corals and algae so that its favored algae can flourish. To supplement plant growth, the fish fertilizes its garden with its own feces.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WsKiVHUIUyJmZz7Uy-HbtbSMCQpy9K0a3b82LCdNsFhyphenhyphenIuWLdZ-qThms6qhF7lrJdt5SeYOMWuB_9vZH8ydxCEn6I8vfKIOvHQM9x_XfokrS0HOeYx7or01tb4GJLYv6Xuq1OWO8_h3g/s1600/Stegastes+fasciolatus.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Stegastes fasciolatus" border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WsKiVHUIUyJmZz7Uy-HbtbSMCQpy9K0a3b82LCdNsFhyphenhyphenIuWLdZ-qThms6qhF7lrJdt5SeYOMWuB_9vZH8ydxCEn6I8vfKIOvHQM9x_XfokrS0HOeYx7or01tb4GJLYv6Xuq1OWO8_h3g/s320/Stegastes+fasciolatus.JPG" title="Stegastes fasciolatus" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stegastes fasciolatus</td></tr>
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One of the brightest and best-known reef fish is the percula clown fish (Amphiprion ocellaris), one of several species of clown fishes and a member of the damselfish family. Reaching only 2.4 inches (6 cm), this small animal is striped in orange, white, and black. The percula clown fish lives in the tentacles of several kinds of anemones, despite the latter’s deadly stinging cells. Anemone tentacles are covered with mucus that prevents one tentacle from stinging another. The clown fish coats its body with this same mucus, a process that takes about one hour. If the clown fish and anemone are separated, the fish loses its immunity and has to repeat the procedure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVfP45IbciZnyoYePKC1ZrJpkKIm80cM7zZgFyMcRF7Dv3esEVVHyloQ5f-YjNdoS70WbRyqj9hby7wXvAv8NM5fYEuxd4L4oMRn_2Tqc_AggYV1-jsApH5dIhZJ4dRkEoFEVAt-ZQZ7z/s1600/Clownfish_(Amphiprion_ocellaris).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Amphiprion ocellaris" border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVfP45IbciZnyoYePKC1ZrJpkKIm80cM7zZgFyMcRF7Dv3esEVVHyloQ5f-YjNdoS70WbRyqj9hby7wXvAv8NM5fYEuxd4L4oMRn_2Tqc_AggYV1-jsApH5dIhZJ4dRkEoFEVAt-ZQZ7z/s320/Clownfish_(Amphiprion_ocellaris).jpg" title="Amphiprion ocellaris" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amphiprion ocellaris (clown fish)</td></tr>
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From its safe haven among the tentacles, a clown fish can cautiously dart out to feed on plankton and small crustaceans. The female percula clown fish lays her eggs on rock or coral near the anemone. After the male fertilizes them, both parents guard the clutch until the eggs hatch, running back to their safe house when threatened.</div>
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Squirrelfish, such as those in the lower color insert on page C-6, are colorful animals whose large populations make them conspicuous on many reefs. Sabre squirrelfish (Sargocentron spiniferum) are one of the larger species, growing to lengths of 17.7 inches (45 cm). Squirrelfish are numerous, but their populations are rivaled by the cardinal fish. During the day, cardinals hide in the crevices, but at night these fish, which average about 4 inches (10.2 cm) long, cover the reef. Many are red, a color that looks black in dark water and helps them avoid predators. Like other fish that are active at night, cardinal fish have very big eyes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5tb6GrhFvora3Z8sKx6mfRUCiWqURkPbQuko7ySDrLyB_FDxqnNVzxflIx9Vud6vZc6ZLpxkK7RrPE0yLlq0txNRPVnOnavjdsANI9HSW-fVHVjP70pcpy7wNrDZpW2_jeZahExsT51v6/s1600/Striped-Squirrelfish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Squirrelfish" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5tb6GrhFvora3Z8sKx6mfRUCiWqURkPbQuko7ySDrLyB_FDxqnNVzxflIx9Vud6vZc6ZLpxkK7RrPE0yLlq0txNRPVnOnavjdsANI9HSW-fVHVjP70pcpy7wNrDZpW2_jeZahExsT51v6/s320/Striped-Squirrelfish.jpg" title="Squirrelfish" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squirrelfish</td></tr>
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During the reproductive cycle, cardinal fish employ a very unusual technique of guarding their eggs called mouth brooding. After eggs are laid in the water and fertilized, the male takes them in his mouth and keeps them there until they hatch. During this period of incubation, the male fish does not eat. Even after hatching, the young may return to hide in the father’s mouth for short periods of time.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aI6cMgk8ftRPSToeHYB5U6RJbLgbnsdK6WJg4R9e1W_JHiYHncveQqFLwH4VT03nq4ozQA3zQZ9UQnOq69xvQnFSijj65qzgKPcQBMN74kLu5n-AWXpiGCXEXsTJWJJalu2sISk6a2Ox/s1600/cardinalfish_pair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="cardinal fish" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4aI6cMgk8ftRPSToeHYB5U6RJbLgbnsdK6WJg4R9e1W_JHiYHncveQqFLwH4VT03nq4ozQA3zQZ9UQnOq69xvQnFSijj65qzgKPcQBMN74kLu5n-AWXpiGCXEXsTJWJJalu2sISk6a2Ox/s320/cardinalfish_pair.jpg" title="cardinal fish" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cardinal fish</td></tr>
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The cardinal fish is just one of several kinds of fish that are difficult to spot in the water. Many reef fish are well camouflaged, an adaptation that offers two big advantages: It helps animals avoid their predators, and it makes it easier for predators to ambush their own prey. The longlure frogfish (Antennarius multiocellatus) is so highly camouflaged that it looks like one of the corals or sponges. When the longlure frogfish moves from one location to another, it changes its colors so that wherever it goes it blends in perfectly. To attract prey, the fish is equipped with a fleshy antenna that dangles in front of its head similar to a fishing lure dangling from a pole. By waiting quietly with its antenna poised, the frogfish attracts small fish that mistake the lure for a snack. If a fish happens to bite off the lure, it grows back.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73FJVF3Stpv-dqTNfvA65NmCa9wK31_KkCps0t79ty-070skcmDgHZnSwTYVZ2uzvOQRltllmjomixoycosjUdW7FfXyKdSiEQWaVveUVnpGZROwN5sjdCVP4X-F5tvJy8jRXaEm7ZzJA/s1600/Muller-multiocellatus3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Antennarius multiocellatus" border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi73FJVF3Stpv-dqTNfvA65NmCa9wK31_KkCps0t79ty-070skcmDgHZnSwTYVZ2uzvOQRltllmjomixoycosjUdW7FfXyKdSiEQWaVveUVnpGZROwN5sjdCVP4X-F5tvJy8jRXaEm7ZzJA/s320/Muller-multiocellatus3.jpg" title="Antennarius multiocellatus" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antennarius multiocellatus (frogfish)</td></tr>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-82675556266291229552013-04-12T09:09:00.001-07:002013-04-12T09:09:41.015-07:00Bony Fish Anatomy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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All bony fish share many physical characteristics, which are labeled in Figure below. One of their distinguishing features is scaly skin. Scales on fish overlap one another, much like shingles on a roof, protecting the skin from damage and slowing the movement of water into or out of the fish’s body.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsbMqUOt35lbINmoMD4DAWZw07ayBkigpRqykVd3sde_35mhJbk1y2slQKX2pahxazqUlCSj8Ol64t1i7kUjqaP5FjtIuk1IzfmysLFrrffXoenereZLiBzSwbSn7VeNUiGwbQmcidDD7/s1600/4-12-2013+11-04-19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The special features of bony fish include bony scales (a), opercula (b), highly maneuverable fins (c), a tail with its upper and lower lobes usually of equal size (d), a swim bladder that adjusts the fish’s buoyancy (e), nostrils (f), pectoral fins (g), a pelvic fin (h), an anal fin (i), lateral lines (j), dorsal fins (k), and a stomach (l)." border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZsbMqUOt35lbINmoMD4DAWZw07ayBkigpRqykVd3sde_35mhJbk1y2slQKX2pahxazqUlCSj8Ol64t1i7kUjqaP5FjtIuk1IzfmysLFrrffXoenereZLiBzSwbSn7VeNUiGwbQmcidDD7/s640/4-12-2013+11-04-19+PM.png" title="The special features of bony fish include bony scales (a), opercula (b), highly maneuverable fins (c), a tail with its upper and lower lobes usually of equal size (d), a swim bladder that adjusts the fish’s buoyancy (e), nostrils (f), pectoral fins (g), a pelvic fin (h), an anal fin (i), lateral lines (j), dorsal fins (k), and a stomach (l)." width="518" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The special features of bony fish include bony scales (a),<br />opercula (b), highly maneuverable fins (c), a tail with its upper and<br />lower lobes usually of equal size (d), a swim bladder that adjusts the<br />fish’s buoyancy (e), nostrils (f), pectoral fins (g), a pelvic fin (h), an<br />anal fin (i), lateral lines (j), dorsal fins (k), and a stomach (l).</td></tr>
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Bony fish are outfitted with fins that facilitate maneuvering and positioning in the water. The fins, which are made of thin membranes supported by stiff pieces of cartilage, can be folded down or held upright.</div>
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<br />Fins are named for their location: Dorsal fins are on the back, a caudal fin is at the tail, and an anal fin is on the ventral side. Two sets of lateral fins are located on the sides of the fish, the pectoral fins are toward the head, and the pelvic fins are near the tail. The caudal fin moves the fish forward in the water, and the others help change direction and maintain balance.</div>
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<br />Although fish dine on a wide assortment of food, most species are predators whose mouths contain small teeth for grasping prey. Nutrients from digested food are distributed through the body by a system of closed blood vessels. The circulation of blood is powered by a muscular two-chambered heart. Blood entering the heart is depleted of oxygen and filled with carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism. Blood collects in the upper chamber, the atrium, before it is pushed into the ventricle. From the ventricle, it travels to the gills where it picks up oxygen and gets rid of its carbon dioxide. Water exits through a single gill slit on the side of the head. The gill slits of fish are covered with a protective flap, the operculum.</div>
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<br />In many bony fish, some gases in the blood are channeled into another organ, the swim bladder. This organ is essentially a gas bag that helps the fish control its depth by adjusting its buoyancy. A fish can float higher in the water by increasing the volume of gas in the swim bladder. To sink, the fish reduces the amount of gas in the bladder.</div>
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<br />Most bony fish reproduce externally. Females lay hundreds of eggs in the water, then males swim by and release milt, a fluid containing sperm, on the eggs. Fertilization occurs in the open water, and the parents swim away, leaving the eggs unprotected. Not all of the eggs are fertilized, and many that are fertilized will become victims of predators, so only a small percentage of eggs hatch.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-78139437278748750812013-04-12T07:28:00.000-07:002013-04-12T07:28:32.204-07:00Bony Fish<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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More than 90 percent of the world’s fish have skeletons made of bone instead of cartilage. Bony fish appear in all sizes, shapes, and colors imaginable. They can be as small as guppies, or as massive as an 880-pound (400-kg) tuna. Some are shaped like bullets, some like pencils, and others like flat plates. On the reef, bony fish display a rainbow of colors and an almost endless variety of markings.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvRlEOKm6ZaFjHy7NCcTM4MFBTiXZ9Usr5kh7PSL-F1ANAPvUDvSNwiVvbj6LC_1kdiIhyphenhyphen8soculbsO7hhHg85gPT5mZOuPbsQywVJbAUcXILg0uEciPRyqsEOlXh_kKuXcYY6lZ5cmRd/s1600/images1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bony Fish (image from NOAA)" border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvRlEOKm6ZaFjHy7NCcTM4MFBTiXZ9Usr5kh7PSL-F1ANAPvUDvSNwiVvbj6LC_1kdiIhyphenhyphen8soculbsO7hhHg85gPT5mZOuPbsQywVJbAUcXILg0uEciPRyqsEOlXh_kKuXcYY6lZ5cmRd/s200/images1.jpg" title="Bony Fish (image from NOAA)" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bony Fish (<i>image from NOAA</i>)</td></tr>
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When people envision a coral reef fish, most think of parrot fish. These large, brightly colored animals have teeth that are fused to form a parrotlike beak, giving them their name. They are usually found feeding in shallow reef water where they scrape off alga that is growing on top of the coral skeletons, or chew up the skeletons to get to the algae within. Since skeletal material is extremely hard, the digestive systems of parrot<br />fish have developed unique adaptations to handle it. Teeth in their throats grind the calcium carbonate and release the algae. The algae travel on through the digestive system where they are broken down, absorbed, and used for nutrition. The pulverized coral is defecated as sand.</div>
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<br />Because they physically remove reef material, parrot fish play important roles in sculpting the reef structure. In one year, a parrot fish can convert about five tons of reef into sand. Their activity is a major part of the bioerosion of the reef and part of the destructive forces that reduces its size. At the same time, the activities of parrot fish help keep the coral animals alive. As grazers, they prevent large mats of algae from covering the coral and smothering it. In this way, they help build up the reef structure.</div>
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<br />Parrot fish have developed a unique strategy to protect themselves from predators. At night, they find a crack or crevice in the reef that they can use as a “bedroom.” Once inside, the fish spend about 30 minutes secreting sticky mucus which they wrap around their bodies, similar to a cocoon. The mucus seals in the odors of the parrot fish and prevents nighttime predators from finding them by smell.</div>
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<br />One of the many species of parrot fish is the queen parrot fish (Scarus vetula) that grows to about 2 feet (60 cm). Like some other species of parrot fish, this one has two color patterns that are associated with its unusual sexual development. All of the young adult parrot fish are drably colored females, but some of them change into colorful blue and yellow males. A few develop into supermales, very brightly colored fish that have the first opportunity to spawn with the females and therefore the best chance to pass their genes to the next generation.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-60060890662633555542013-04-12T06:40:00.004-07:002013-04-12T06:40:27.277-07:00Colorization<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of the most striking features of fish is their colorization. Coloring and body marks on fish help them avoid predators by staying out of sight. Many prey species, such as gulf flounder, avoid being eaten by blending in with their surroundings, matching the subtle shades of their habitats. Spotted fish look like the seafloor, and striped fish blend in with grasses. Some reef fish display bright colors because they live among brightly colored sponges and corals.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5qjUWSngl-SAeJQooNJ0EdVzP9MYDn7ONrBXAE9XiWWvsbjXCdHivaMAtbTt6Iszvg5-RGDo7IEfi2p38iqBMcFNuFyOz_Z1gzOZxJEI4m9Cw2Dgm7hGm2ZiYGlBFqLK2Q9ha7c7weLW/s1600/flounder1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sand gulf flounder" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5qjUWSngl-SAeJQooNJ0EdVzP9MYDn7ONrBXAE9XiWWvsbjXCdHivaMAtbTt6Iszvg5-RGDo7IEfi2p38iqBMcFNuFyOz_Z1gzOZxJEI4m9Cw2Dgm7hGm2ZiYGlBFqLK2Q9ha7c7weLW/s320/flounder1.jpg" title="Sand gulf flounder" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sand gulf flounder</td></tr>
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Conversely, coloring that mimics fish’s habitats helps predators get close to their prey. The ability to avoid detection is a significant advantage for such hunters as scorpion fish that wait quietly until prey comes within striking distance. A hunter is able to conserve both time and energy if it does not have to pursue its food. Most fish, including sea trout and grouper, display some degree of countershading.</div>
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<br />This form of coloring reduces the clarity of the fish’s body outline in water. The simplest, and most common, form of countershading is a dark dorsal side and a pale ventral side, with intermediate colors between the two. When sunlight filters down through the water, it lightens the fish’s back and throws shadows on its underside. The overall effect of countershading lessens the degree of contrast between the fish and the water.</div>
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<br />A few species of fish, such as the spotfin butterfly fish and the high hat fish, show disruptive or deflective colorization that includes bands, stripes, or dots of contrasting colors. These colors and patterns confuse predators by distorting the true shape, size, and position of the fish. Bright patterns draw the predator’s eye, causing it to see the pattern rather than the fish itself. This type of coloring can deflect the predator’s attention away from a fish’s vulnerable areas, such as its head and eyes.</div>
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<br />Colorization can also be used as an advertisement. There is no point in being poisonous and unpalatable if no one knows it. Instead of hiding, poisonous fish announce their dangerous status. Fish may also advertise their age or sex with coloring. Males are generally more colorful than females, whose duller shades help camouflage and protect them. Young fish may be transparent or pale, making it hard for predators to spot them, as well as letting the older fish of their own species know that they are not a threat.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-75360833458671828192013-04-08T01:53:00.001-07:002019-09-15T09:32:29.666-07:00Skates and Rays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Nicknamed the “pancake sharks,” skates and rays have a lot in common with their cartilaginous cousins; however, their outward appearances are quite different from those of sharks. The bodies of skates and rays, such as the blue-spotted stingray in Figure below, are broad and flattened instead of torpedo-shaped, as in sharks, and the gill slits of skates and rays are located under the body. Skates and rays feed on shallow, sandy reef flats where they can pin down their prey with their winglike fins. When not feeding, they often lie on the bottom to rest. For protection, many species possess one or more poisonous spines on the upper surface of their tails.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_JIdi4aDoxdYao-KWd1E5bJc2AlmwjiZZA-guUm0KJ0B_9P4mLEn1Y_lxQuQDuHz6JXRdVp6P-xPLZiieuP1vJlWPDGG7ovExq-wgbg2yATWO_BCqc2CHJAeTYwFonCnzvYhJghHSpdM/s1600/images4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_JIdi4aDoxdYao-KWd1E5bJc2AlmwjiZZA-guUm0KJ0B_9P4mLEn1Y_lxQuQDuHz6JXRdVp6P-xPLZiieuP1vJlWPDGG7ovExq-wgbg2yATWO_BCqc2CHJAeTYwFonCnzvYhJghHSpdM/s1600/images4.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bluespotted stingray hunts for<br />
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The southern stingray (Dasyatis americana) is usually inactive during the day but hunts most of the night by moving over the bottom of the reef. To uncover prey, it spews jets of water from its mouth into the sediment, or stirs up the sand and silt by vigorously flapping its pectoral fins. Once food is located, the ray lifts its body off the bottom with a pectoral disk and moves the prey into its mouth.<br />
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The male southern stingray is much smaller than the female, maturing at a disk width of about 1.5 feet (0.46 m). Females average about 3 feet (0.91 m) wide, but may grow to 6 feet (1.8 m). After mating, the embryos are carried in the mother and nourished first by yolk and then by special “uterine milk” that is produced in cells that line the stingray’s uterus. After about five months, three to five young are born. Venomous barbs on the tails of southern stingrays can be used for protection if the animals are disturbed; however, their venom pales in comparison to the venom of the bluespotted stingray (Taeniura lymma). This yellow fish is covered with bright blue dots to advertise its dangerous nature; the toxin is strong enough to injure, or even kill, humans.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-61524140818697029382013-04-08T01:09:00.000-07:002013-04-08T01:09:14.284-07:00Shark Senses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Humans have five senses—sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing—that help them gather and interpret information about their environment. Sharks have these senses as well as others (see Figure below). Of their five basic senses, smell plays the largest role, and hearing plays the smallest. Sharks smell by detecting molecules in the water, similar to the way air-breathing vertebrates detect odor molecules. The sense of smell in sharks is so keen that they can distinguish one drop of blood in 25 gallons (115 l) of water. Some species have sensory barbels near their mouths that can pick up tastes in the seawater.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkJfgQLgLl38jfOAUL-d0G9BOnSjOG6m0QqNSCRa9KNPXbFnnAAtXGmzwcCd-T-PMznWqe24jdfcRjMIMEMaCWG_sv8DRE3_uExMcAwPO9moSXDc-b4AHK_1mLceujNmBjXN_1E67jaoDo/s1600/4-8-2013+2-36-18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Typical shark external anatomy is displayed by the dogfish shark. Special sensory structures include the lateral line and the ampullae of Lorenzini, located inside the snout." border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkJfgQLgLl38jfOAUL-d0G9BOnSjOG6m0QqNSCRa9KNPXbFnnAAtXGmzwcCd-T-PMznWqe24jdfcRjMIMEMaCWG_sv8DRE3_uExMcAwPO9moSXDc-b4AHK_1mLceujNmBjXN_1E67jaoDo/s640/4-8-2013+2-36-18+PM.png" title="Typical shark external anatomy is displayed by the dogfish shark. Special sensory structures include the lateral line and the ampullae of Lorenzini, located inside the snout." width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical shark external anatomy is<br />displayed by the dogfish shark. Special sensory<br />structures include the lateral line and the ampullae<br />of Lorenzini, located inside the snout.</td></tr>
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After a shark senses prey, it homes in by traveling up the prey’s “smell corridor,” moving side to side to read clues in the water. As the shark gets closer, the corridor of clues narrows. Once the prey is found, the shark grabs it, unhinging its jaw if necessary to get its mouth around large animals. Since prey thrash around and can injure their attackers, some sharks have special nictitating membranes, thick films that cover their eyes during the final moments of the attack.</div>
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<br />Lateral lines are sense organs located along the sides of the shark body that can detect vibrations in water. Short tubes connect the lateral lines, which are made of fluid-filled canals just under the skin, to external pores. When vibrations in water strike the pores, the lateral lines detect them, providing sharks with information about their source. Vibrations could indicate anything from a school of fish to a wounded animal.</div>
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<br />Shark snouts possess receptors called ampullae of Lorenzini that can sense electrical energy. The cells of the receptors are sensitive enough to pick up the very small electrical impulses produced by nerves of living things. The receptors work with the nervous system to help sharks find prey that are buried in sediment or wandering out of sight in the open sea. Like all of the shark’s senses, the ampullae of Lorenzini are supported<br />by, and themselves support, the other sensory organs. Input from all of the shark’s senses give the animal a clear picture of everything in its environment.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-68959936245604742902013-04-07T23:32:00.000-07:002013-04-07T23:32:15.652-07:00Sharks on the Coral Reef<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Zebra sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum) have black and white stripes when they are young but lose the stripes and develop spots as adults. These solitary night hunters have very flexible bodies and can swim into tight places to search the cracks and crevices of the reef for small fish, snails, and clams and other mollusks. During the day, they rest on sandy ocean floor near the reef, lying with their mouths open and facing the currents to keep water flowing over their gills. The adults reach lengths of 10 feet (3.1 m).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0chpZU4e83gAPwNUvPFFJt-YRn4waGoY7azcaY1tdrkd0S6RVj6EuDebz0hRib9RwJ25M8OyttDcqIWxJpXwejOvHG854dQmf8TZb29E-SHCyBQGBemO9n1jw_U7P5Z6a13Pvoy5sEs7t/s1600/images1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Zebra sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0chpZU4e83gAPwNUvPFFJt-YRn4waGoY7azcaY1tdrkd0S6RVj6EuDebz0hRib9RwJ25M8OyttDcqIWxJpXwejOvHG854dQmf8TZb29E-SHCyBQGBemO9n1jw_U7P5Z6a13Pvoy5sEs7t/s1600/images1.jpg" title="Zebra sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum)" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zebra sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum)</td></tr>
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<br />An easily identifiable reef animal is the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum), a species that is distinguished by skin flaps on the nose and barbels on the chin. This docile, unaggressive bottom feeder rests on ledges and in caves. When feeding, a nurse sharks sucks up its food by creating a vacuum that pulls the prey into its mouth. Some of this shark’s favorite foods are mollusks and crustaceans, which it crushes with rounded teeth. Adult nurse sharks can reach lengths of 8 feet (2.4 m).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3a_4e3BqJKirWqPdRIb8QLo_KEhCCVY9inKlyr7A_3BnJJefj3egZOfXTdX20XLWuNlHYqXyKg2z4Ly99FdF-RoZGrwC8SMdHctK_o3VG2mTqf7M2CbpFPEr1SoCwSdq8MKq3kCGxR_2X/s1600/26436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)" border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3a_4e3BqJKirWqPdRIb8QLo_KEhCCVY9inKlyr7A_3BnJJefj3egZOfXTdX20XLWuNlHYqXyKg2z4Ly99FdF-RoZGrwC8SMdHctK_o3VG2mTqf7M2CbpFPEr1SoCwSdq8MKq3kCGxR_2X/s320/26436.jpg" title="nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)</td></tr>
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The blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) has a white flash on its side and a black tip on its tail. Active swimmers and aggressive hunters, blacktips work together to round up schools of fish into compact groups before attacking in a feeding frenzy. These sharks grow to be about 5 feet (1.5 m) long. In contrast, the whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus) is very docile, spending the day lying beside other whitetips in a cave or on a ledge. These animals feed at night, moving around the reef shyly, hunting octopuses, lobsters, crabs, and small fish on the floor of the reef. The 5-foot (1.5-m) long animal can easily be identified by the white markings on the tips of their fins.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJIPiCM2heFl83lKDvQTtnjIe8QzQVk9N9dUPdZik2CK3Ac2iqBbrN72XFu0D9Lxx9z6vIoe7YW1HTXgtfxT_o6P-3uAfD_99XgHcDyvRPCWwysoj6iV7XKpU-E2Z86fJOWtfFpw9IdzW/s1600/images2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJIPiCM2heFl83lKDvQTtnjIe8QzQVk9N9dUPdZik2CK3Ac2iqBbrN72XFu0D9Lxx9z6vIoe7YW1HTXgtfxT_o6P-3uAfD_99XgHcDyvRPCWwysoj6iV7XKpU-E2Z86fJOWtfFpw9IdzW/s1600/images2.jpg" title="reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)</td></tr>
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<br />A Japanese wobbegong shark (Orectolobus japonicus) may be difficult to spot on the reef. This quiet animal has splotchy skin that camouflages it against the reef’s soil and rocks. The wobbegong lies patiently on the bottom, grabbing prey that unwittingly swim too close. The shark grasps its chosen meal in daggerlike teeth, letting it squirm till exhausted. Then the wobbegong turns the prey so that it can be swallowed headfirst, a technique that keeps the victim’s fins from getting caught in the shark’s throat.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINpPWOu_3Aw7wMJGswOrkcIf94G84JMdIkU8oTKs6PFhIwlsrL3GhSaBupnI2NyBuG0eQUj-XrPu2w92SxVE2JycOQWcqjzwaimT0LK06KGcYtXWHD1ySGqr6aYkONGwIezpuBJ3ykPTv/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Orectolobus japonicus" border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhINpPWOu_3Aw7wMJGswOrkcIf94G84JMdIkU8oTKs6PFhIwlsrL3GhSaBupnI2NyBuG0eQUj-XrPu2w92SxVE2JycOQWcqjzwaimT0LK06KGcYtXWHD1ySGqr6aYkONGwIezpuBJ3ykPTv/s400/images.jpg" title="Orectolobus japonicus" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orectolobus japonicus</td></tr>
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<br />The reef’s smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena) is one of 10 species of hammerheads, all of which have flattened projections at the sides of their heads. The shark’s eyes are mounted on the outer edges of the head lobes, and their nostrils are set far apart. Hammerheads can grow to lengths of 14 feet (4.3 m), and they aggressively hunt fish and rays, although they will scavenge, too. In the summer, groups of hammerheads may migrate to cooler water.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena)</td></tr>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-730767976476210284.post-90514976178383404072013-04-07T22:23:00.004-07:002013-04-07T22:23:31.812-07:00Shark Anatomy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Although there are many kinds of sharks, they all are similar anatomically. A shark’s digestive system begins at the mouth, which is filled with teeth. Shark teeth are continuously produced, and at any time a shark may have 3,000 teeth arranged in six to 20 rows. As older teeth are lost from the front rows, younger ones move forward and replace them. Teeth are adapted to specific kinds of food. Depending on their species, sharks may have thin, daggerlike teeth for holding prey; serrated, wedge-shaped teeth for cutting and tearing; or small, conical teeth that can crush animals in shells.</div>
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<br />The internal skeletons of sharks are made of cartilage, a lightweight and flexible bonelike material. Their external surfaces are very tough and rugged. Sharks have extremely flexible skin that is covered with placoid scales, each of which is pointed and has a rough edge on it. Shark fins are rigid and cannot be folded down like the fins of bony fish.</div>
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<br />Like other aquatic organisms, sharks get the oxygen they need to live from the water. Compared to air, water contains a small percentage of dissolved oxygen. Surface waters may contain five milliliters of oxygen per liter of water, dramatically less than the 210 ml of oxygen per liter of air that is available to land animals. To survive, fish must be very efficient at removing and concentrating the oxygen in water.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shark Anatomy <i>(image source: seaworld.org)</i></td></tr>
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<br />In aquatic organisms, gills carry out the function of lungs in terrestrial animals. To respire, sharks pull water in through their mouths and spiracles, holes on top of their heads. The water passes over their gills and exits through the gill slits on the sides of the head. Most species of sharks can pump water over their gills by opening and closing their mouths. Some sharks, the “ram ventilators,” must swim continuously to move water over their gills. Oxygen in water is picked up by tiny blood vessels in the gills, then carried to the heart, a small two-chambered, S-shaped tube. From there, oxygenated blood is pumped to the rest of the body.</div>
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<br />Sharks fertilize their eggs internally. Males transfer sperm to females using modified pelvic fins. Some species are oviparous, which means the female lays fertilized eggs. Shark eggs may be deposited in lagoons or shallow reef water, where they incubate for six to 15 months. Many of the eggs’ cases are equipped with hairy or leathery tendrils that help hold them to rocks or plants. Other species are viviparous, so the embryos develop inside the mother and are born alive. Several species are ovoviviparous, which means that the embryo develops inside an egg within the female’s body. The egg hatches inside the mother, the hatchling eats the yolk and any unfertilized eggs, then is born alive.</div>
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<br />Shark populations are relatively small compared to other kinds of fish. One reason is because shark reproduction rates are low. Unlike fish and many of the invertebrates, a female shark produces only a few offspring each year. In addition, the gestation period, time when the embryo develops inside the mother, of viviparous species is long.</div>
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irmawan hadi saputrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00227365671485260892noreply@blogger.com