Hatchetfish

Hatchetfish: 

The series Blue Planet featured a segment on the deep sea. The film focused on how fish use bioluminescence, navigate within the twilight zone and the deep abyss, and find food and mates when resources are limited. The film also featured hatchetfish, which are very interesting creatures.

Hatchetfish belong to the family Sternoptychidae. Forty-five known species of Hatchetfish have been discovered thus far. The size of the species varies but on average, the Hatchetfish is no bigger than 10 centimeters. They can be found in warm temperate waters at depths of 200 to 1000 meters.

The Hatchetfish received its name because their body shape is similar to that of a hatchet. The body of the Hatchetfish is flat and compressed with shiny mirror-like sides. The mirror-like sides manipulate light particles that have reached the depths. The reflected light makes the Hatchetfish disappear in the deep abyss by making it appear dark in coloration.

The eyes of the Hatchetfish face upward so that glimpse of light can be utilized to find potential prey items like plankton and crustaceans. The technique the Hatchetfish employ to find food is similar to techniques exploited by its predators. Hatchetfish have photophores and bioluminescent organs that line the ventral side of its body in order to defend themselves from predators looking up at their silhouette. The photophores contain a chemical called luciferin that produces ultraviolet light. The light produced breaks up the silhouette of the Hatchetfish by making the ventral side have a similar brightness to the light particles that have reached the depths. The Hatchetfish is able to control the amount of light given off by its body depending on the amount of light being emitted by the environment around it. This technique is called counter illumination.

The Hatchetfish uses strategies such as a mirror like bodies, counter illumination in order to remain concealed from predators, and had large eyes that face upward in order to find prey. These strategies have allowed the Hatchetfish to survive in the deep-sea.

Work Cited
"BBC - Science & Nature - Sea Life - Fact Files." BBC - Homepage. Web. 15 Sept. 2012. < http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/factfiles/fish/hatchetfish_bg.shtml>.
Mensinger, A.F. "THE SKIN | Bioluminescence in Fishes." ScienceDirect. Ezproxy, 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.stockton.edu:2048/science/article/pii/B978012374553800160X>.

Sea lilies: the Venus fly trap of the sea

This is my first semester in college and I’m really excited because I finally get to study things that interest me. I’m really into science and learning new things. My main interest is in marine biology because it’s an exciting field that has a lot to offer. The ocean is so vast and many things have yet to be discovered. We know more about the universe than we know about the earth’s oceans. It’s amazing how we have been able to land on the moon, but have not been able to land on the deepest depths of the earth’s oceans. The ocean has many secrets that have yet to be discovered. This is why I’m so excited to learn about the ocean and marine life in college. The knowledge is never ending and there is always something new to learn and discover. In my intro to marine science class we have access to boats that take us off shore to do actual field study. That means having real hands on experience with marine organisms. I have the chance to work with machinery and learn techniques that are usually used in the marine field. In my seminar class, journey to the deep sea, I learn about deep sea vents, and organisms that live in temperatures so high and extreme life was thought not to live. Throughout this blog I want to share with whoever is interested the new things I learn in class and the things not yet discovered by scientists.

What first got me started with the idea was the series Blue Planet which featured a segment on the deep sea. The film focused on how fish use bioluminescence, navigate within the twilight zone and the deep abyss, and how they are able to find food and mates when resources are limited. The film also featured sea lilies which are very interesting creatures. They are like the Venus fly trap of the sea.

Sea lilies get there name because they almost look like a plant. They have a small cup-shape body that looks like the stem of a plant, and several branched arms that look feathers or the petals of a plant. The amazing thing about sea lilies is that they are not plants, but actually animals. Sea lilies are similar to the Venus fly trap in that they use their plant disguise to aid in feeding. Venus fly traps use their disguise to lure their prey while sea lilies use their feathered arms to catch tiny plankton that are in the water column. Sea lilies are suspension feeders and wait for their food to come to them before using their arms to close around it leaving no escape. By keeping their arms closed sea lilies are able to protect their food from other predators that want their catch.

Sea lilies are found in coral reefs unusually attached to rocks. They are usually bottom- dwellers because they are sessile and do not move. This makes the sea lily an easy target to predators. If they are attacked sea lilies are capable of swimming by moving their feathered arms gently. This may not be very effective when getting away from a predator since they are very slow.

Sea lilies are no longer prevalent in the oceans like they once were. They do however have a large fossil record that shows sea lilies were more prevalent in shallow-water. Sea lilies have miniscule numbers because they underwent mass extinction that destroyed their population. Even with low number sea lilies are not considered a threatened species.