ipl-logo

Sea Urchins Research Paper

1598 Words7 Pages

Introduction
The 3000 km South African coastline together with the mix of temperatures gives rise the high biodiversity. The coast is thus home to a collective amount of organisms. The Sea Urchin being one such organism classed class Echinoidea belonging to the Echinodermata phylum (Branch and Branch, 1981).Echinodermata is well recognised phylum as starfish, sea cucumbers, brittle and feather stars all belong to this family. Penta-ratidail symmetry, The presents of a water vascular system and tube feet for locomotion, a complete digestive system and a calcareous skeleton are all unique characteristic of the phylum. Echinoderms lack respiratory, excretory and circulatory systems (Mader, 2010). Sea Urchins are an example of marine living …show more content…

Sea urchins form part of the duertorsomes thus the aboral surface or anus was first to developed between the oral (mouth )and aboral (anus)surfaces or anus as seen figure one …show more content…

Feeding on multiple species of algae, as well as organic suspended waste from sewage outfalls (Cilliers, 1999).Sea urchins are significantly recognised within the ecology of the kelp forest ecosystems, as their role within the ecosystems as grazers (Tarr etal,1996).The abundance of sea urchins are controlled by predators such crabs, sea otters fish and lobster(Tarr etal,1996).In south Africa the main predators of sea urchins are lobster ( Jasis lanandii) and star fish. The increase in Sea urchin abaundance is caused by the decline in predators an increase of recruitment and the immigration of adults(Tegner and Dayton,2000)Urchins are known to eradicate kelp populations with the absence of predators. The absence of predators causes a bloom in sea urchins numbers with later leads to the loss of algae species.
Sea urchins have an important role in the development of abalone along the South African coast, as juvenile abalone uses the urchins as shelter from predation. The sea urchin Parechinus angulosus and abalone Haliotis midae.According to Tarr,etal (1996)the number of juvenile abalone increase with an increased amount of sea urchins present at study sites.
Conclusion
The complex biology and adaptations of Sea urchins allow the effective survival and interactions within the rocky shores and kelp forest habitats. Sea urchins are important to the ecology and food

Show More
Related

  • Red Knots: Article Analysis

    589 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1990’s it was discovered that a decline in the population of Red Knots occurred, simultaneously with the decline of horseshoe crab eggs. It was hypothesized that this event was significant and was the cause of the waning population of Red Knots. The Red Knots main dietary staple is horseshoe crab eggs and the nutrition provided

    Read More

  • Catalina Shist Case Study

    899 Words  | 4 Pages

    1. What is subduction and how did it plus faulting lead to the formation of Catalina’s island? 
 Blueschist, greenschist, and amphibolite rocks are typically found in this order from top to bottom. Amphibolite is found at more intense pressures and temperatures than schists are found due to these metamorphic rocks being made from sediments that get subducted back down into the mantle. The unique Catalina Schist was formed when these layers of rock in the Farallon plate became subducted underneath the North American plate and eventually becoming “stuck.”

    Read More

  • Essay On Daphnia Magna

    187 Words  | 1 Pages

    Daphnia magna is a transparent water flea species found in rocky pools along the Atlantic Ocean. The Daphnia’s body is encased in a clear structure called carapace (Elenbaas, 2013). The exoskeleton, carapace, provides protection for the Daphnia magna, “The portion of the hard exoskeleton, or shell, that covers all or part of the body of many crustaceans…” (“Definition, n.d.). The heart can be easily seen under a light microscope due to the transparency of the skin (Handy, 2012).

    Read More

  • Homarus Research Paper

    2504 Words  | 11 Pages

    Rene Ismail McKenna - C 9th Grade Biology PBA American Lobster - Homarus americanus Ecosystem/Ecology of Homarus americanus Adult American lobsters tend to dwell in depths of below 50 meters. However, some can live at depths of about 750 meters.

    Read More

  • Hastings Point Lab Report

    1610 Words  | 7 Pages

    70 common limpets were identified in the 40m bracket identified as the littoral zone, between 0m to 40m. The common limpet employs a range of adaptations to survive the abiotic and biotic conditions associated with the littoral zone. Firstly, the limpet uses a structural adaptation to overcome the harsh wave action in the tidal zone, by using their radula to grip on to imperfections in the rock. Furthermore, they employ a behavioural adaptation of grinding their shells down into the rock, to further ensure they are not swept away by the tide. Additionally, the limpet utilises a behavioural adaptation regarding its tough shell and powerful radula, to defend against predators.

    Read More

  • Sea Lampreys Research Paper

    1248 Words  | 5 Pages

    THE GREAT LAKES The great lakes are comprised of 5 different fresh water lakes, Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie. The lakes are situated along the US-Canadian border, touching Ontario in Canada and Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio Pennsylvania, Indiana and New York in the United States. Roughly 34 million people in Canada and the United States live in the great lakes basin, and also 35 000 plants and animals, over 170 of those being fish, inhabit the great lakes (Zimmermann). This significantly large water body holds an estimate of 6 quadrillion gallons of water.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Rodman Philbrick's Freak The Mighty

    1547 Words  | 7 Pages

    In return for protecting the crab, the sea anemone receives food. Since the sea anemone will eat just about anything in the sea, it gets to eat whatever tidbits the hermit crab leaves behind. The hermit crab does the work of capturing dinner and the sea anemone cleans up the leftovers. It’s a steady food supply for the sea anemone. Since sea anemones have little to no movement, another benefit of hitching a ride on a hermit crab’s shell is getting exposed to a much larger area to scavenge for food.

    Read More

  • Ap Biology Case Study

    896 Words  | 4 Pages

    The main problem that would occur is the plants would not be able to conduct photosynthesis at a rate that can support them and they would start to die off. When the plants die off the organisms that eat the plants wont have any food so they will die off and so on. The temperature of the earth would most likely drop due to the lack of sunlight exposure as well. An earthworm wouldn’t suffer a huge amount until the bacteria started to die off due to the overall imbalance of the food chain, earthworms would definitely survive the longest because their food source would be the last to die off. The sharks also would not be affected for a while because it would take time for the algae to die off from lack of sunlight and cause a chain reaction of

    Read More

  • Barnacle Research Paper

    1701 Words  | 7 Pages

    Aim: To investigate the distribution of two different species of barnacles, the acorn barnacle (Chamaesipho columna) and the brown barnacle (Chamaesipho brunnea) at low, mid and high tide. The data collected is from Siren’s Rock, Island Bay. This will be done by looking at both the abiotic and biotic factors of their environment. Barnacles are under the crustacean family, the same family as crayfish and crabs (Ultimate Visual Dictionary of Science). The pattern found on the rocky shore was a zonation pattern.

    Read More

  • Daphnia Research Paper

    704 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the food particles travel down the digestive tract, the waste gets released through the anus, which is “located on the ventral surface of the terminal appendage. The first and second pairs of legs are used in the organisms' filter feeding, ensuring that particles too large to handle are kept out while the other sets of legs create the stream of water rushing into the organism,” (Daphnia). 8. Describe the type of nervous

    Read More

  • Viperfish Research Paper

    697 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ocean is a giant body of water that is home to all types of fish. The ocean provides a rich environment for a plethora of animals from the tiniest of fish to the enormous whale. In the ocean, these creatures live and explore. Some of them must hunt other fish in order to survive, which means that others must try to avoid predators. Nature has provided all of these animals with a unique capability to survive.

    Read More

  • Asian Shore Crab Research Paper

    499 Words  | 2 Pages

    The feeding rates on the native blue muscle were compared, it was found that the Asian shore crabs had significantly higher feeding rates on the larger muscle classes, implying that they have a larger per capita impact on the prey population than the green crabs did (6). Although Asian shore crabs are known to primarily rely on plant material, they prefer mussels and other crustaceans, and have been known to deplete them. Even after a decrease in prey availability they are still able to maintain high densities. Evidence supports that when depletion of the preferred food source occurs the crabs turn to cannibalism because it is the best option energetically (7). This allows them to support high densities even when the preferred food source is gone or

    Read More

  • Fiddler Crab Hypothesis

    549 Words  | 3 Pages

    imaginarensis, which was the smaller fiddler crab, was attacked and eaten within 48 hours by the U. imadeitupensis. The results suggest that the reason the U. imaginarensis survived in a brackish water environment was because it would have been less likely they would be killed by the U. imadeitupensis. Since the U. imadeitupensis was not able to survive in the marine water environment, the U. imaginarensis would rather live in that area so they would not have to worry about much competition and the U. imadeitupensis would not pose a threat. b) The yellow tang is a real organism that originated from the salt waters of Hawaii, which is where 70% of aquariums capture the yellow tang from.

    Read More

  • Daphnia Red Light Lab Report

    1248 Words  | 5 Pages

    Introduction: Daphnia play a vital role in the ecosystem because they are an important part of the aquatic food web (Miner et al., 2012). When exposed to UV light, Daphnia swim deeper into the water (Morris et al., 1995). This natural movement is called phototaxis. Daphnia have been utilized as test subjects due to their simplicity and how environmental disturbances have impacted their ability to survive, including UV light.

    Read More

  • Essay On Coral Reefs

    1577 Words  | 7 Pages

    Sea anemones are very relatives of orals. They provide refuge for fishes and their eggs. They are known for their symbolic relation with anemone fishes and clown fishes. Anemone fishes, in return, protect the anemone from predators and they also may also remove

    Read More

More about Sea Urchins Research Paper

Open Document