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Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many phyla , families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather than on taxonomy .
Total species range is highly variable for marine mammal species. On average most marine mammals have ranges which are equivalent or smaller than one-fifth of the Indian Ocean . [ 33 ] The variation observed in range size is a result of the different ecological requirements of each species and their ability to cope with a broad range of ...
General characteristics of a large marine ecosystem (Gulf of Alaska). Marine life, sea life or ocean life is the collective ecological communities that encompass all aquatic animals, plants, algae, fungi, protists, single-celled microorganisms and associated viruses living in the saline water of marine habitats, either the sea water of marginal seas and oceans, or the brackish water of coastal ...
As of 2023, more than 242,000 marine species have been documented, and perhaps two million marine species are yet to be documented. An average of 2,332 new species per year are being described. [2] [3] Marine life is studied scientifically in both marine biology and in biological oceanography.
A polyp is an animal of very simple structure, [1] a living fossil that has not changed significantly for about half a billion years (per generally accepted dating of Cambrian sedimentary rock). [citation needed] The external form of the polyp varies greatly in different cases.
A marine coastal ecosystem is a marine ecosystem which occurs where the land meets the ocean. Worldwide there is about 620,000 kilometres (390,000 mi) of coastline. Coastal habitats extend to the margins of the continental shelves, occupying about 7 percent of the ocean surface area.
Anthozoa is a class of marine invertebrates which includes sessile cnidarians such as the sea anemones, stony corals, soft corals and sea pens.Adult anthozoans are almost all attached to the seabed, while their larvae can disperse as planktons.
As in many marine ecosystems, copepods represent a major food source for a variety of neustonic and surface-associated species. [ 1 ] The sea surface microlayer (SML) at the air-sea interface is a distinct, under-studied habitat compared to the subsurface and copepods, important components of ocean food webs, have developed key adaptations to ...