Deep Sea Reproduction, Feeding, and Whale Falls

Match the type of feeder with the correct feeding mechanism.

• Predators

• Feed on food particles that have settled on the bottom of the ocean floor.

• Scavengers

• Eat dead or decaying living things

• Filter Feeders

• Pass water through their bodies to extract food

• Deposit Feeders

• Hunt for their food

Sea Pigs and Sea Stars are examples of...

• Filter feeders

• Deposit feeders

• Predators

Which living things will benefit the most from Marine Snow? Choose 2

• Scavengers

• Filter Feeders

• Predators

• Deposit Feeders

Marine snow can take several days to fall to the deep sea floor if they form clumps with each other.

• True

• False

Marine Snow covers a large part of the Sea Floor

• True

• False

Choose all that apply: Marine Snow consists of:

• Flakes of dead living things

• Sand

• Frozen water

• Poop (fecal matter)

What is a whale fall?

• The process of decomposition of a whale carcass on the ocean floor

• A phenomenon where whales migrate to deeper waters

• A sudden increase in the number of whales in the deep sea

• A type of whale that lives in the deep sea

What is the role of bacteria in the sulfophilic stage of a whale-fall ecosystem?

• They break down fats trapped in the bones

• They colonize the mineral remains of the whale

• They consume the decomposing tissue

• They extract nutrients from the sediment

Organize the phases of a Whale Fall from Beginning to End

• Worms, crustaceans, and mollusks feed on left over blubber

• • Bacteria break down fats in bones- creates energy for the base of a new food chain

• Sharks come to tear away at the flesh of the whale

• Dry bone's and their minerals support suspension feeders

In male parasitism in deep-sea anglerfish, a male attaches to the female and sucks the blood out of her before detaching and moving on to another female.

• True

• False