Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2024

Hannah Warner Bree Davis Blog 1 Marine Ecology Sea Turtles             Sea turtles are reptiles that live in tropical environments and are marine dwelling creatures. There are different sizes and shapes of sea turtles found all over the world. Sea Turtle size varies greatly, solely depending on the species. The small Kemp’s ridley sea turtle weighs between 80–100 pounds and the enormous leatherback sea turtle can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. The carapace of the shell can vary in shape, size, and color depending on the species of the turtle. Sea turtles don’t have teeth, but a beak to help them with eating. Even though sea turtles spend most of their lives in the water, body shape is best suited for the aquatic life. The female sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs, but the male sea turtles hardly ever return to land after they have hatched and swam into the open ocean. Nesting for sea turtles vary throughout the wo...

It’s a common misconception that groupers refer to a single species of fish. But in fact, they are a large group of species found in the family Serranidae . However, Serranidae also includes sea basses, so don’t confuse them! Many groupers fall within two genera, Epinephelus and Mycteroperca . Groupers are commonly found in warm waters such as the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Interestingly, groupers have a unique life cycle. When male populations are low and the need for sperm in the ecosystems is high, the females will often change sexes to satisfy the reproductive needs of the population. This is termed as being a protogynous hermaphrodite. Sickelfish Grouper-  Dermatolepis inermis arkive.com Groupers are a common dish in many countries, and therefore  are an important economic resource for fishermen . But sometimes groupers are toxic to humans due to their symbiotic relationships with dinoflagellates. In other words, Groupers have a relationship with a micro...

The Octopus by Tim & Meg GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS The octopus is one of the most well known deep sea creatures. They have a large head that actually contains their vital organs. They also have eight tentacle arms branching off, and resemble something you might see in a sci-fi movie. Each of these eight legs are mostly covered in suction disk appendages. Octopus are extremely intelligent, and possess a wide variety of techniques to subdue prey and escape predators. They grow up to 4.5 feet in length and weigh up to 22 pounds. They belong to the phylum Cephalopoda and subclass Coleoidia, which are invertebrates with some of the largest nervous systems among their kind. HUNTING Octopuses hunt during the night, where they have the advantage over other fish who cannot see well in the dark or sleep during the night. Octopuses can pursue their prey by "crawling" or jet propulsion, both very quick and effective. Octopuses use their dexterous tentacles equipped...

Green Moray Eel Taylor Marshall, Ali Bland    Life History T he green moray, Gymnothorax funebris, are oviparous and their eggs are about 1 mm- 4 mm in diameter. Once they hatch they are in the prolarvae stage, and are like  this for a short period of time. Their larvae are called leptocephali. They look like  transparent ribbons, and are about 5-10 cm long. In this stage green moray float around with plankton  while developing. When they are in the larva stage form pectoral fins, which they do  not keep when evolving into adulthood. They are absorbed once they form into  juveniles. Unfortunately, not much is known about the green moray leptocephalus  larvae. Although, other moray larvae have been distinguished by their pigments,  position of dorsal fin/anus and their muscles. The juveniles will develop in the open  ocean until they find a permanent habitat for them to live. This is where they fully  mature into ad...