Marine Biology (MSCI.302)

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Readings Questions 

Short questions based on readings in your text and on the web will be given out on most lecture days.  They are due at the beginning of the next class.  Your answer does not have to be long, but it should be concise and complete.  This certainly shouldn’t take more than a page, and in most cases will just be a paragraph.  Unlike in lab, I am not grading these questions for writing technique.  Feel free to answer in bullet or outline form.  Often these will be thought-provoking questions, where some of your answer may come from the readings and some must come from your own ideas and logical conclusions.

 

Special Notice:  I have the wrong exam time on your syllabus.  The correct time is Wed., May 5th at 11:00 am (not 8:30).  Please note this change on your calendars.

Also, click on “Study Guides” to see a study list for your lab practical.

 

15. (due April 26) How would overfishing of herbivorous reef fish impact a coral reef?  What about overfishing of a piscivorous species that eats herbivorous fish?

 

14. (due April 21) What is the importance of ribbed mussels and fiddler crabs to a SC salt marsh? 

 

13. (due April 12) Read the end of chapter 5.  Why is krill biomass (or just total zooplankton biomass, for that matter) so much greater in Antarctic waters compared to Arctic?  There are several parts to this.

 

12.  (due April 2) In chapter 4, read about the theories to explain the high diversity of the deep sea benthos.  Now consider a slightly different question.  What would cause low biodiversity in a community?  Stick to natural processes in your answer (no anthropogenic disturbance or pollutants).  Also, be sure to check the “Problem Sets” link above.  You have a problem set due in 1 week on Wed, April 7th.

 

11. (due March 26)  I am at a conference this day, but you must turn this assignment into Connie Jones, from Career Services, who will talk with you in class.  Your assignment is to find, print out, and turn in 2 job offers (not generic descriptions, but actual job postings) in the marine sciences:  1 should be a job you would really like to have some day and 1 should be a job that you would like and would be eligible to apply for immediately upon graduating from Coastal with a bachelors degree.  Don’t forget to put your name on them.  You can use the career links on our class web page as a starting point (Links). 

 

10. (due March 9)  You can have some fun with this one.  Feel free to use your book, web sites, or just what you already know.  Marine vertebrates have several sensory systems that we don’t.  Pick one of them and answer this:  what would be the coolest thing you would do if you had one of these senses, and just how would it work?  Keep it clean, please.

 

9. (due March 5) First, an announcement:  Dr. Robert Ballard will be at Coastal next week (Wed) to speak at Wheelright.  He is probably the most famous oceanographer alive today.  If you would like tickets, you should pick them up ASAP, and definitely no later than Friday.  There has already been a large public demand.  Unfortunately, the talk is at the same time that some of you are scheduled to be on the boat for lab. If you would like to change your boat day, please contact your lab professor.  Here’s the press release:  “Ticket distribution is limited to two per person, and CCU ID is required.  This event is free and open to the public.  Dr. Ballard's presentation, "The Challenges of Deep Sea Exploration: Research, Execution and Results," will take place in Wheelwright Auditorium on Wednesday, March 10 at 3:30 PM.  "Best known for his 1985 discovery of the Titanic, Robert D. Ballard has succeeded in tracking down numerous other significant shipwrecks, including the German battleship Bismarck, the lost fleet of Guadalcanal, the U.S. aircraft carrier Yorktown (sunk in the World War II Battle of Midway), and most recently John F. Kennedy's boat, PT-109. In addition to being a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence, Ballard is president of the Institute for Exploration in Mystic, Connecticut."  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/council/eir/bio_ballard.html

Now, on to your assignment question, this time from readings in your book (chapter 3):  What are some additional hydrodynamic shape adaptations for tunas that we did not mention in class?  In what way do low frequency and high frequency sounds serve different purposes for echolocation?

 

8. (due March 3) You can easily find these answers on the web, but you’ll have to look for sites yourself.  What are the 3 pinniped families and how are they different?  Which are more numerous, mysticetes or odontocetes?

 

7. (due Feb 27)  Read about “Worms” and “Other Marine Worms” on the Marine Phyla Pages.  Which “other” marine worm is most closely related to polychaetes?  How are they similar and how different?  In what way is a nematode similar to an arthropod?  Are there any hirudinia in the marine environment? 

 

6. (due Feb 23) Note:  Some (but not all) of the species on your list for your lab practical next week can be found at  http://www.coastal.edu/science/marine/msci302/library.htm.  You also have an on-line quiz to complete before lab next week.  It will be available on Monday.  These “quizzes” are essentially open-note questions to help prepare for lab, so quiz may be too strong a word.  You should budget the bulk of your time toward preparation for the practical.  Now, here’s your reading question for Monday:  Go to the Marine Phyla pages and read about cnidaria (again) and arthropoda.  For cnidarians, what’s the difference between a scyophozoan and an anthozoan?  What’s an obvious difference between an amphipod and an isopod?  What order is a blue crab?  How is that order defined?  What order is a giant krill?  Is a sea spider a crustacean?  If not, what is it? 

 

5. (due Feb. 20) On the course web page, go to the Marine Phyla pages and read about mollusks, cnidaria, and ctenophores to answer the following questions.  Which classes of molluscs are you familiar with (if not the name of the class, at least the members)?  Which single class of molluscs are you least likely to find along the coast of Horry County?  Other than the class indicated in the previous question, what are the characteristics of one of the mollusc classes with which you are not very familiar?  Other than the cilia “combs” on ctenophores for locomotion, what distinguishes ctenophores from cnidarians?

 

4. (due Jan. 30)  What’s so unusual about diatom reproduction (cell division)?

 

3. (due Jan. 28)  We’re in chapter 2 now.  What are some important autotrophic nanoplankton groups?  How important are they (quantitative answer, please)?  Are they equally important in all areas of the ocean?

 

2. (due Jan. 23)  Your book briefly compares terrestrial and marine ecosystems in chapter 1.  Compared to air, water is more dense, more viscous, has a higher heat capacity, absorbs light quicker, holds less oxygen (and with a variable concentration), and is a better conductor of sound, electrical charge, and heat.  Which of these characteristics do you think has the strongest impact on the structure and appearance of marine organisms and ecosystems?  Briefly explain your choice.

1. (due Jan. 21)  On page 33 of your text, Fig 1.22 displays the depth divisions of the oceans.  On what basis are the oceanic pelagic and oceanic benthic depth zones defined?  (How were their boundaries determined?). 

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