Insect Ecology @ Au Sable - spring 2024

Stingrays (Yellow-Spotted/Southern) http://travelswithtam.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/coz-10-jan-para-night-yellow-ray-buried.jpg Talk about the most intense game of hide-and-seek. When wanting to hide from predators, both Yellow-Spotted and Southern Stingrays will bury themselves in the sand. They swim to the bottom and flap their fins (or “wings”) until the sand is covering everything but their eyes and spiracles, so they can see and breathe. Their lightly colored skin allows them to blend in with the sand to an almost invisible extent. These types of stingrays are known as “benthic” stingrays, meaning they are always on the bottom of the ocean floor. This limits their amount of hiding places, so they have adapted to hiding underneath the ocean floor, so to say. Another adaptation that has evolved from this behavior is known as their “stinger.” Certain stingrays, called “whiptail” stingrays (those from Family Dasyatidae) have sharp and venomous barbs that they use to ...

Sharks and rays belong to a group of cartilaginous fishes (Class Chondrichthyes). A majority of chondrichthyans live in marine environments, however some are able to travel into estuaries and up rivers. They are often located in shallower waters of the ocean, but some can roam into deeper oceanic waters. Cartilaginous fishes have unique structures that differentiate them from bony fishes (Class Osteichthyes). For starters, their bones are composed of cartilage, although they are often calcified, they are not considered true bones. They have 5-7 gill slits and a modified first gill slit called a spiracle, located behind the eye, that helps many of the bottom dwelling rays take in water for respiration as they wait for prey. Chondrichthyans have placoid scales, which are unique to other types of scales. Placoid scales closely resemble teeth. They contain blood vessels and are covered in enamel that gives the chondrichthyan protection from other species. They also help reduce drag. Tee...

Meagan & Tim Magnificent Species of Cozumel Overview While in Cozumel, we saw some pretty amazing underwater creatures. Some of our favorites included eels, puffer fish, and squid. These are each extremely unique organisms that were exciting to see in their natural habitats. Not only were these creatures fairly uncommon, they all live very special lives compared to most of the other organisms we saw. Underwater, we were limited to sensory observation and didn’t have the opportunity to talk openly about the details of what we saw until surfacing. Each of these creatures have incredible adaptations that make them unique and help them survive, which we’ll bring to light below. http://www.tulum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/coral-reef.png Eels We were fortunate enough to see several variations of eels including the Green Moray (pictured), Spotted Moray, and the Goldentail Moray. Moray eels can be frightening to the typical observer. Not only do they have a snake-...

Parrotfish Parrotfish make up a large group of marine species that inhabit shallow coastal waters in tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the entire world. They are found in rocky coasts, coral reefs, and seagrass beds, and play a significant role in bio erosion. Parrotfish are named for their numerous amount of teeth that are arranged in a tightly packed mosaic on the external surface of their jaw bones that form a parrot-like beak, with which they tear from coral and other rocky substrates. Sizes vary within the parrotfish family with the majority of species reaching 30–50 cm (12–20 in) in length. A few species can reach lengths in excess of 1 m, and the green hump head parrotfish can reach up to 1.3 m. Parrotfish are detritivores and can eat a wide variety of microscopic organisms living on and within the substrate. The green hump head parrotfish include coral in their diets. Their feeding activity is important for the production and distribution of coral s...

Ali Bland & Taylor Marshal Habitat The Seahorse has a wide range of species and can be found in many different locations all over the Americas, as well as the world. In light of their strange body shape, a horse shaped nose, and small fins, the seahorse is not a very strong swimmer. Swimming requires a large amount of energy expenditure on their part. For this reason, seahorses can be found living in coral reefs, seagrass beds, along mangroves. These are most abundant in warm shallow waters off the coast. This is beneficial to the seahorses anchoring mechanism. Using there long tails, seahorses use these areas for there abundance of anchoring locations, that prevent them from being washed out to sea during winter storms. Seahorses are also very aggressive when it comes to their territory. Males can have a stomping ground of up to 11 square feet, however the females can claim up to 1,100 square feet at a time. How much a seahorse can survive, will depend on how much space it ...