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 wetlands, lagoons, estuaries and inland seas. 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. Marine life is studied scientifically in both marine biology and in biological oceanography.
Today, marine species range in size from the microscopic phytoplankton, which can be as small as 0.02–micrometers; to huge cetaceans like the blue whale, which can reach 33 m (108 ft) in length. Marine microorganisms have been variously estimated as constituting about 70% or about 90% of the total marine biomass. Marine primary producers, mainly cyanobacteria and chloroplastic algae, produce oxygen and sequester carbon via photosynthesis, which generate enormous biomass and significantly influence the atmospheric chemistry. Migratory species, such as oceanodromous and anadromous fish, also create biomass and biological energy transfer between different regions of Earth, with many serving as keystone species of various ecosystems. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet, and in part, shape and protect shorelines, and some marine organisms (e.g. corals) even help create new land via accumulated reef-building. (Full article...)
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. (Full article...)
Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
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Image 1The silky shark ( Carcharhinus falciformis), also known by numerous names such as blackspot shark, gray whaler shark, olive shark, ridgeback shark, sickle shark, sickle-shaped shark and sickle silk shark, is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, named for the smooth texture of its skin. It is one of the most abundant sharks in the pelagic zone, and can be found around the world in tropical waters. Highly mobile and migratory, this shark is most often found over the edge of the continental shelf down to 50 m (164 ft). The silky shark has a slender, streamlined body and typically grows to a length of 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in). It can be distinguished from other large requiem sharks by its relatively small first dorsal fin with a curving rear margin, its tiny second dorsal fin with a long free rear tip, and its long, sickle-shaped pectoral fins. It is a deep, metallic bronze-gray above and white below. With prey often scarce in its oceanic environment, the silky shark is a swift, inquisitive, and persistent hunter. It feeds mainly on bony fishes and cephalopods, and has been known to drive them into compacted schools before launching open-mouthed, slashing attacks. This species often trails schools of tuna, a favored prey. Its sense of hearing is extremely acute, allowing it to localize the low-frequency noises generated by other feeding animals, and, by extension, sources of food. The silky shark is viviparous, meaning that the developing embryos are sustained by a placental connection to their mother. Significant geographical variation is seen in its life history details. Reproduction occurs year-round except in the Gulf of Mexico, where it follows a seasonal cycle. Females give birth to litters of up to 16 pups annually or biennially. The newborn sharks spend their first months in relatively sheltered reef nurseries on the outer continental shelf, growing substantially before moving into the open ocean. ( Full article...)
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Image 2The sea otter ( Enhydra lutris) is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg (30 and 100 lb), making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals. Unlike most marine mammals, the sea otter's primary form of insulation is an exceptionally thick coat of fur, the densest in the animal kingdom. Although it can walk on land, the sea otter is capable of living exclusively in the ocean. The sea otter inhabits nearshore environments, where it dives to the sea floor to forage. It preys mostly on marine invertebrates such as sea urchins, various mollusks and crustaceans, and some species of fish. Its foraging and eating habits are noteworthy in several respects. Its use of rocks to dislodge prey and to open shells makes it one of the few mammal species to use tools. In most of its range, it is a keystone species, controlling sea urchin populations which would otherwise inflict extensive damage to kelp forest ecosystems. Its diet includes prey species that are also valued by humans as food, leading to conflicts between sea otters and fisheries. ( Full article...)
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Image 3The orca ( Orcinus orca), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus Orcinus, it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopolitan species, it inhabits a wide range of marine environments, from Arctic to Antarctic regions to tropical seas. Orcas are apex predators with a diverse diet. Individual populations often specialize in particular types of prey, including fish, sharks, rays, and marine mammals such as seals, dolphins, and whales. They are highly social, with some populations forming stable matrilineal family groups (pods). Their sophisticated hunting techniques and vocal behaviors, often unique to specific groups and passed down from generation to generation, are considered to be manifestations of animal culture. ( Full article...)
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Image 4Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals, although a few are anchored to the seabed by stalks rather than being motile. They are made of an umbrella-shaped main body made of mesoglea, known as the bell, and a collection of trailing tentacles on the underside. Via pulsating contractions, the bell can provide propulsion for locomotion through open water. The tentacles are armed with stinging cells and may be used to capture prey or to defend against predators. Jellyfish have a complex life cycle, and the medusa is normally the sexual phase, which produces planula larvae. These then disperse widely and enter a sedentary polyp phase which may include asexual budding before reaching sexual maturity. ( Full article...)
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Image 6Ctenophora (; sg.: ctenophore from Ancient Greek κτείς (kteis) 'comb' and φέρω (pherō) 'to carry') is a phylum of marine invertebrates, commonly known as comb jellies, that inhabit sea waters worldwide. They are notable for the groups of cilia they use for swimming (commonly referred to as "combs"), and they are the largest animals to swim with the help of cilia. Depending on the species, adult ctenophores range from a few millimeters to 1.5 m (5 ft) in size. 186 living species are recognised. ( Full article...)
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Image 9Antipatharians, also known as black corals or thorn corals, are an order of soft deep-water corals. These corals can be recognized by their jet-black or dark brown chitin skeletons, which are surrounded by their colored polyps (part of coral that is alive). Antipatharians are a cosmopolitan order, existing in nearly every oceanic location and depth, with the sole exception of brackish waters. However, they are most frequently found on continental slopes under 50 m (164 ft) deep. A black coral reproduces both sexually and asexually throughout its lifetime. Many black corals provide housing, shelter, food, and protection for other animals. Black corals were originally classified in the order Ceriantipatharia along with ceriantharians (tube-dwelling anemones), but were later reclassified under Hexacorallia. Though they have historically been used by Pacific Islanders for medical treatment and in rituals, its only modern use is making jewelry. Black corals have been declining in numbers and are expected to continue declining due to the effects of poaching, ocean acidification and climate change. ( Full article...)
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Image 10Ovalipes catharus, commonly known as the paddle crab, swimming crab, or, in Māori, pāpaka, is a species of crab in the family Ovalipidae. It is found in shallow, sandy-bottomed waters around the coasts of New Zealand, the Chatham Islands, and uncommonly in southern Australia. O. catharus is an opportunistic, aggressive, and versatile feeder active mostly at night, preying predominantly on molluscs and crustaceans. It is also highly prone to cannibalism, which accounts for over a quarter of its diet in some locations. The crab's paddle-shaped rear legs and streamlined carapace allow it to capture prey by swimming rapidly and to escape predation by burrowing in the sand. Its mating season is in winter and spring; the male carries the female until she moults, after which the two mate and the female likely moves into deeper waters to incubate and disperse her larvae. Commercial fisheries have harvested paddle crabs since the 1970s, with catches declining considerably from a peak in the late 1990s. Its population is expected to be increasing, although ecologists have raised concerns that Charybdis japonica, an invasive crab with a similar size, diet, and habitat, could outcompete the paddle crab. O. catharus is present in Māori culture both as an artistic motif and as a traditional source of food. ( Full article...)
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A whale fall occurs when the carcass of a whale has fallen onto the ocean floor, typically at a depth greater than 1,000 m (3,300 ft), putting them in the bathyal or abyssal zones. On the sea floor, these carcasses can create complex localized ecosystems that supply sustenance to deep-sea organisms for decades. In some circumstances, particularly in cases with lower water temperatures, they can be found at much shallower depths, with at least one natural instance recorded at 150 m (500 ft) and multiple experimental instances in the range of 30–382 m (100–1,300 ft). Whale falls were first observed in the late 1970s with the development of deep-sea robotic exploration. Since then, several natural and experimental whale falls have been monitored through the use of observations from submersibles and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) in order to understand patterns of ecological succession on the deep seafloor.
Deep sea whale falls are thought to be hotspots of adaptive radiation for specialized fauna. Organisms that have been observed at deep-sea whale fall sites include chordates, arthropods, cnidarians, echinoderms, mollusks, nematodes, and annelids. New species have been discovered, including some potentially specializing in whale falls. It has been postulated that whale falls generate biodiversity by providing evolutionary stepping stones for multiple lineages to move and adapt to new environmentally-challenging habitats. Researchers estimate that 690,000 carcasses/skeletons of the nine largest whale species are in one of the four stages of succession at any one time. This estimate implies an average spacing of 12 km (7.5 mi) and as little as 5 km (3.1 mi) along migration routes. They hypothesize that this distance is short enough to allow larvae to disperse/migrate from one to another. (Full article...)
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Image 1 Dickinsonia may be the earliest animal. They appear in the fossil record 571 million to 541 million years ago. (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 2Giant kelp is a foundation species for many kelp forests. (from Marine food web)
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Image 3Marine protected areas are one area of legislation that helps marine ecosystems to thrive. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 4Anthropogenic stressors to marine species threatened with extinction (from Marine food web)
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Image 5Marine Species Changes in Latitude and Depth in three different ocean regions(1973–2019) (from Marine food web)
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Image 7Humpback whale straining krill (from Marine food web)
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Image 9Technology such as this turtle excluder device (TED) allows this loggerhead sea turtle to escape. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 10Elevation-area graph showing the proportion of land area at given heights and the proportion of ocean area at given depths (from Marine habitat)
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Image 11Cnidarians are the simplest animals with cells organised into tissues. Yet the starlet sea anemone contains the same genes as those that form the vertebrate head. (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 13A microbial mat encrusted with iron oxide on the flank of a seamount can harbour microbial communities dominated by the iron-oxidizing Zetaproteobacteria (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 14Mature forests have a lot of biomass invested in secondary growth which has low productivity (from Marine food web)
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Image 15Bacterioplankton and the pelagic marine food web Solar radiation can have positive (+) or negative (−) effects resulting in increases or decreases in the heterotrophic activity of bacterioplankton. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 16Biomass pyramids. Compared to terrestrial biomass pyramids, aquatic pyramids are generally inverted at the base. (from Marine food web)
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Image 17Diagram above contains clickable links
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Image 18 Kimberella, an early mollusc important for understanding the Cambrian explosion. Invertebrates are grouped into different phyla ( body plans). (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 19NOAA scuba diver surveying bleached corals. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 20A food web is network of food chains, and as such can be represented graphically and analysed using techniques from network theory. (from Marine food web)
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Image 21Conference events, such as the events hosted by the United Nations, help to bring together many stakeholders for awareness and action. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 22Mudflats become temporary habitats for migrating birds (from Marine habitat)
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Image 23Halfbeak as larvae are one of the organisms adapted to the unique properties of the microlayer (from Marine habitat)
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Image 24Cycling of marine phytoplankton. Phytoplankton live in the photic zone of the ocean, where photosynthesis is possible. During photosynthesis, they assimilate carbon dioxide and release oxygen. If solar radiation is too high, phytoplankton may fall victim to photodegradation. For growth, phytoplankton cells depend on nutrients, which enter the ocean by rivers, continental weathering, and glacial ice meltwater on the poles. Phytoplankton release dissolved organic carbon (DOC) into the ocean. Since phytoplankton are the basis of marine food webs, they serve as prey for zooplankton, fish larvae and other heterotrophic organisms. They can also be degraded by bacteria or by viral lysis. Although some phytoplankton cells, such as dinoflagellates, are able to migrate vertically, they are still incapable of actively moving against currents, so they slowly sink and ultimately fertilize the seafloor with dead cells and detritus. (from Marine food web)
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Image 25Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) being prevented by a Japanese fisheries patrol. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 26Sponges have no nervous, digestive or circulatory system (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 27In the open ocean, sunlit surface epipelagic waters get enough light for photosynthesis, but there are often not enough nutrients. As a result, large areas contain little life apart from migrating animals. (from Marine habitat)
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Image 28The oligotrich ciliate has been characterised as the most important herbivore in the ocean (from Marine food web)
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Image 29Earth's magnetic field (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 30Phylogenetic tree representing bacterial OTUs from clone libraries and next-generation sequencing. OTUs from next-generation sequencing are displayed if the OTU contained more than two sequences in the unrarefied OTU table (3626 OTUs). (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 31Ocean surface chlorophyll concentrations in October 2019. The concentration of chlorophyll can be used as a proxy to indicate how many phytoplankton are present. Thus on this global map green indicates where a lot of phytoplankton are present, while blue indicates where few phytoplankton are present. – NASA Earth Observatory 2019. (from Marine food web)
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Image 32Salmon with fungal disease (from Marine fungi)
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Image 33Model of the energy generating mechanism in marine bacteria (1) When sunlight strikes a rhodopsin molecule (2) it changes its configuration so a proton is expelled from the cell (3) the chemical potential causes the proton to flow back to the cell (4) thus generating energy (5) in the form of adenosine triphosphate. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 34Diatoms (from Marine food web)
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Image 35Lichen covered rocks (from Marine fungi)
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Image 37The umbrella mouth gulper eel can swallow a fish much larger than itself (from Marine habitat)
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Image 38Export processes in the ocean from remote sensing (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 39Kelp forests provide habitat for many marine organisms (from Marine habitat)
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Image 40Sea ice food web and the microbial loop. AAnP = aerobic anaerobic phototroph, DOC = dissolved organic carbon, DOM = dissolved organic matter, POC = particulate organic carbon, PR = proteorhodopsins. (from Marine food web)
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Image 41Predator fish ( foxface) size up schooling forage fish (from Marine food web)
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Image 43Microplastics found in sediments on the seafloor (from Marine habitat)
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Image 44The European eel being critically endangered impacts other animals such as this Grey Heron that also eats eels. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 45Reconstruction of an ammonite, a highly successful early cephalopod that first appeared in the Devonian (about 400 mya). They became extinct during the same extinction event that killed the land dinosaurs (about 66 mya). (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 46Arrow worms are predatory components of plankton worldwide. (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 47On average there are more than one million microbial cells in every drop of seawater, and their collective metabolisms not only recycle nutrients that can then be used by larger organisms but also catalyze key chemical transformations that maintain Earth's habitability. (from Marine food web)
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Image 49Classic food web for grey seals in the Baltic Sea containing several typical marine food chains (from Marine food web)
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Image 50Some lobe-finned fishes, like the extinct Tiktaalik, developed limb-like fins that could take them onto land (from Marine vertebrate)
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Image 51Whales were close to extinction until legislation was put in place. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 52Archaea were initially viewed as extremophiles living in harsh environments, such as the yellow archaea pictured here in a hot spring, but they have since been found in a much broader range of habitats. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 53The Ocean Cleanup is one of many organizations working toward marine conservation such at this interceptor vessel that prevents plastic from entering the ocean. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 54Jellyfish are easy to capture and digest and may be more important as food sources than was previously thought. (from Marine food web)
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Image 55Ernst Haeckel's 96th plate, showing some marine invertebrates. Marine invertebrates have a large variety of body plans, which are currently categorised into over 30 phyla. (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 56Mycoloop links between phytoplankton and zooplankton Chytrid‐mediated trophic links between phytoplankton and zooplankton (mycoloop). While small phytoplankton species can be grazed upon by zooplankton, large phytoplankton species constitute poorly edible or even inedible prey. Chytrid infections on large phytoplankton can induce changes in palatability, as a result of host aggregation (reduced edibility) or mechanistic fragmentation of cells or filaments (increased palatability). First, chytrid parasites extract and repack nutrients and energy from their hosts in form of readily edible zoospores. Second, infected and fragmented hosts including attached sporangia can also be ingested by grazers (i.e. concomitant predation). (from Marine fungi)
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Image 57Starfish larvae are bilaterally symmetric, whereas the adults have fivefold symmetry (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 58Antarctic marine food web. Potter Cove 2018. Vertical position indicates trophic level and node widths are proportional to total degree (in and out). Node colors represent functional groups. (from Marine food web)
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Image 59Scanning electron micrograph of a strain of Roseobacter, a widespread and important genus of marine bacteria. For scale, the membrane pore size is 0.2 μm in diameter. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 60Phytoplankton (from Marine food web)
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Image 61Land runoff, pouring into the sea, can contain nutrients (from Marine habitat)
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Image 62Waves and currents shape the intertidal shoreline, eroding the softer rocks and transporting and grading loose particles into shingles, sand or mud (from Marine habitat)
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Image 63Different bacteria shapes ( cocci, rods and spirochetes) and their sizes compared with the width of a human hair. A few bacteria are comma-shaped ( vibrio). Archaea have similar shapes, though the archaeon Haloquadratum is flat and square. The unit μm is a measurement of length, the micrometer, equal to 1/1,000 of a millimeter (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 64Morphological diversity of fungi collected from a marine sponge species, Ircinia variabilis (from Marine fungi)
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Image 66Sandy shores provide shifting homes to many species (from Marine habitat)
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Image 67Only 29 percent of the world surface is land. The rest is ocean, home to the marine habitats. The oceans are nearly four kilometres deep on average and are fringed with coastlines that run for nearly 380,000 kilometres.
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Image 68 Bloom of the filamentous cyanobacteria Trichodesmium (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 69Ocean particulate organic matter (POM) as imaged by a satellite in 2011 (from Marine food web)
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Image 70A protected sea turtle area that warns of fines and imprisonment on a beach in Miami, Florida. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 71Ocean or marine biomass, in a reversal of terrestrial biomass, can increase at higher trophic levels. (from Marine food web)
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Image 72Driftwood (from Marine fungi)
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Image 73"A variety of marine worms": plate from Das Meer by M.J. Schleiden (1804–1881) (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 75The distribution of anthropogenic stressors faced by marine species threatened with extinction in various marine regions of the world. Numbers in the pie charts indicate the percentage contribution of an anthropogenic stressors' impact in a specific marine region. (from Marine food web)
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Image 76Seep and vent interactions with surrounding deep-sea ecosystems. The y axis is meters above bottom on a log scale. DOC: dissolved organic carbon, POC: particulate organic carbon, SMS: seafloor massive sulfide. (from Marine food web)
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Image 77Phylogenetic and symbiogenetic tree of living organisms, showing a view of the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes (from Marine fungi)
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Image 78Schematic representation of the changes in abundance between trophic groups in a temperate rocky reef ecosystem. (a) Interactions at equilibrium. (b) Trophic cascade following disturbance. In this case, the otter is the dominant predator and the macroalgae are kelp. Arrows with positive (green, +) signs indicate positive effects on abundance while those with negative (red, -) indicate negative effects on abundance. The size of the bubbles represents the change in population abundance and associated altered interaction strength following disturbance. (from Marine food web)
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Image 79Topological positions versus mobility: (A) bottom-up groups (sessile and drifters), (B) groups at the top of the food web. Phyto, phytoplankton; MacroAlga, macroalgae; Proto, pelagic protozoa; Crus, Crustacea; PelBact, pelagic bacteria; Echino, Echinoderms; Amph, Amphipods; HerbFish, herbivorous fish; Zoopl, zooplankton; SuspFeed, suspension feeders; Polych, polychaetes; Mugil, Mugilidae; Gastropod, gastropods; Blenny, omnivorous blennies; Decapod, decapods; Dpunt, Diplodus puntazzo; Macropl, macroplankton; PlFish, planktivorous fish; Cephalopod, cephalopods; Mcarni, macrocarnivorous fish; Pisc, piscivorous fish; Bird, seabirds; InvFeed1 through InvFeed4, benthic invertebrate feeders. (from Marine food web)
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Image 80Phylogenetic and symbiogenetic tree of living organisms, showing a view of the origins of eukaryotes and prokaryotes (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 81Two Nanoarchaeum equitans cells with its larger host Ignicoccus (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 82Common-enemy graph of Antarctic food web. Potter Cove 2018. Nodes represent basal species and links indirect interactions (shared predators). Node and link widths are proportional to number of shared predators. Node colors represent functional groups. (from Marine food web)
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Image 83Eukaryote versus prokaryote (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 84Oil spills have a significant impact on the marine environment such as this image from space of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 85An in situ perspective of a deep pelagic food web derived from ROV-based observations of feeding, as represented by 20 broad taxonomic groupings. The linkages between predator to prey are coloured according to predator group origin, and loops indicate within-group feeding. The thickness of the lines or edges connecting food web components is scaled to the log of the number of unique ROV feeding observations across the years 1991–2016 between the two groups of animals. The different groups have eight colour-coded types according to main animal types as indicated by the legend and defined here: red, cephalopods; orange, crustaceans; light green, fish; dark green, medusa; purple, siphonophores; blue, ctenophores and grey, all other animals. In this plot, the vertical axis does not correspond to trophic level, because this metric is not readily estimated for all members. (from Marine food web)
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Image 86Dinoflagellate (from Marine food web)
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Image 87Vibrio vulnificus, a virulent bacterium found in estuaries and along coastal areas (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 88The 49th plate from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, 1904, showing various sea anemones classified as Actiniae, in the Cnidaria phylum (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 89The range of sizes shown by prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) and viruses relative to those of other organisms and biomolecules (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 90A 2016 metagenomic representation of the tree of life using ribosomal protein sequences. The tree includes 92 named bacterial phyla, 26 archaeal phyla and five eukaryotic supergroups. Major lineages are assigned arbitrary colours and named in italics with well-characterized lineage names. Lineages lacking an isolated representative are highlighted with non-italicized names and red dots. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 91This timeline contains clickable links
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Image 92Lampreys are often parasitic and have a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth (from Marine vertebrate)
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Image 93The pelagic food web, showing the central involvement of marine microorganisms in how the ocean imports nutrients from and then exports them back to the atmosphere and ocean floor (from Marine food web)
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Image 94Mudflat pollution (from Marine habitat)
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Image 95Mangroves provide nurseries for fish (from Marine habitat)
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Image 96Roles of fungi in the marine carbon cycle Roles of fungi in the marine carbon cycle by processing phytoplankton-derived organic matter. Parasitic fungi, as well as saprotrophic fungi, directly assimilate phytoplankton organic carbon. By releasing zoospores, the fungi bridge the trophic linkage to zooplankton, known as the mycoloop. By modifying the particulate and dissolved organic carbon, they can affect bacteria and the microbial loop. These processes may modify marine snow chemical composition and the subsequent functioning of the biological carbon pump. (from Marine fungi)
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Image 97The deep sea amphipod Eurythenes plasticus, named after microplastics found in its body, demonstrating plastic pollution affects marine habitats even 6000m below sea level. (from Marine habitat)
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Image 98Coral reefs provide marine habitats for tube sponges, which in turn become marine habitats for fishes (from Marine habitat)
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Image 99Cryptic interactions in the marine food web. Red: mixotrophy; green: ontogenetic and species differences; purple: microbial cross‐feeding; orange: auxotrophy; blue: cellular carbon partitioning. (from Marine food web)
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Image 100Reconstruction of Otavia antiqua, possibly the first animal about 760 million years ago (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 101 The global continental shelf, highlighted in light green, defines the extent of marine coastal habitats, and occupies 5% of the total world area (from Marine habitat)
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Image 102Prochlorococcus, an influential bacterium which produces much of the world's oxygen (from Marine food web)
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Image 103Chytrid parasites of marine diatoms. (A) Chytrid sporangia on Pleurosigma sp. The white arrow indicates the operculate discharge pore. (B) Rhizoids (white arrow) extending into diatom host. (C) Chlorophyll aggregates localized to infection sites (white arrows). (D and E) Single hosts bearing multiple zoosporangia at different stages of development. The white arrow in panel E highlights branching rhizoids. (F) Endobiotic chytrid-like sporangia within diatom frustule. Bars = 10 μm. (from Marine fungi)
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Image 104640 μm microplastic found in the deep sea amphipod Eurythenes plasticus (from Marine habitat)
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Image 105Tidepools on rocky shores make turbulent habitats for many forms of marine life (from Marine habitat)
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Image 106Coastlines can be volatile habitats (from Marine habitat)
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Image 108Estimates of microbial species counts in the three domains of life Bacteria are the oldest and most biodiverse group, followed by Archaea and Fungi (the most recent groups). In 1998, before awareness of the extent of microbial life had gotten underway, Robert M. May estimated there were 3 million species of living organisms on the planet. But in 2016, Locey and Lennon estimated the number of microorganism species could be as high as 1 trillion. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 109Ocean Conservation Namibia rescuing a seal that was entangled in discarded fishing nets. (from Marine conservation)
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Image 110Pennate diatom from an Arctic meltpond, infected with two chytrid-like [zoo-]sporangium fungal pathogens (in false-colour red). Scale bar = 10 μm. (from Marine fungi)
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Image 111Pennate diatom from an Arctic meltpond, infected with two chytrid-like [zoo-]sporangium fungal pathogens (in false-colour red). Scale bar = 10 μm. (from Marine food web)
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Image 112Estuaries occur when rivers flow into a coastal bay or inlet. They are nutrient rich and have a transition zone which moves from freshwater to saltwater. (from Marine habitat)
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Image 113Conceptual diagram of faunal community structure and food-web patterns along fluid-flux gradients within Guaymas seep and vent ecosystems. (from Marine food web)
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Image 114Hagfish are the only known living animals with a skull but no vertebral column. (from Marine vertebrate)
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Image 116Oceanic pelagic food web showing energy flow from micronekton to top predators. Line thickness is scaled to the proportion in the diet. (from Marine food web)
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Image 117Scale diagram of the layers of the pelagic zone (from Marine habitat)
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Image 118Diagram of a mycoloop (fungus loop) Parasitic chytrids can transfer material from large inedible phytoplankton to zooplankton. Chytrids zoospores are excellent food for zooplankton in terms of size (2–5 μm in diameter), shape, nutritional quality (rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and cholesterols). Large colonies of host phytoplankton may also be fragmented by chytrid infections and become edible to zooplankton. (from Marine fungi)
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Image 119Sea spray containing marine microorganisms, including prokaryotes, can be swept high into the atmosphere where they become aeroplankton, and can travel the globe before falling back to earth. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 121Pelagibacter ubique of the SAR11 clade is the most abundant bacteria in the ocean and plays a major role in the global carbon cycle. (from Marine prokaryotes)
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Image 122Generalized or hypothetical ancestral mollusc (from Marine invertebrates)
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Image 123Some representative ocean animal life (not drawn to scale) within their approximate depth-defined ecological habitats. Marine microorganisms exist on the surfaces and within the tissues and organs of the diverse life inhabiting the ocean, across all ocean habitats. (from Marine habitat)
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Image 124Food web structure in the euphotic zone. The linear food chain large phytoplankton-herbivore-predator (on the left with red arrow connections) has fewer levels than one with small phytoplankton at the base. The microbial loop refers to the flow from the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) via heterotrophic bacteria (Het. Bac.) and microzooplankton to predatory zooplankton (on the right with black solid arrows). Viruses play a major role in the mortality of phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria, and recycle organic carbon back to the DOC pool. Other sources of dissolved organic carbon (also dashed black arrows) includes exudation, sloppy feeding, etc. Particulate detritus pools and fluxes are not shown for simplicity. (from Marine food web)
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Image 125This algae bloom occupies sunlit epipelagic waters off the southern coast of England. The algae are maybe feeding on nutrients from land runoff or upwellings at the edge of the continental shelf. (from Marine habitat)
The following are images from various marine life-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Image 1Mangrove forests (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 2The voyage of the Beagle (from History of marine biology)
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Image 3Model of a Greek boat (from History of marine biology)
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Image 4Some lobe-finned fishes, like the extinct Tiktaalik, developed limb-like fins that could take them onto land (from Marine vertebrate)
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Image 5Estuaries (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 6Global distribution of coral, mangrove, and seagrass diversity (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 7Salt marshes (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 8Ecosystem services delivered by epibenthic bivalve reefs. Reefs provide coastal protection through erosion control and shoreline stabilization, and modify the physical landscape by ecosystem engineering, thereby providing habitat for species by facilitative interactions with other habitats such as tidal flat benthic communities, seagrasses and marshes. (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 9Lagoon (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 10Seagrass meadow (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 11Coral reefs form complex marine ecosystems with tremendous biodiversity. (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 12Drivers of change in marine ecosystems (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 14Global map of large marine ecosystems. Oceanographers and biologists have identified 66 LMEs worldwide. (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 15A science ROV being retrieved by an oceanographic research vessel. (from History of marine biology)
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Image 16In the fourth century BC, Aristotle gave accurate descriptions of the embryological development of the hound shark Mustelus mustelus. (from History of marine biology)
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Image 17Lampreys are often parasitic and have a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth (from Marine vertebrate)
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Image 18Sea spray containing marine microorganisms can be swept high into the atmosphere, where it becomes part of the aeroplankton and may travel the globe before falling back to earth. (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 20Kelp forest (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 21Hagfish are the only known living animals with a skull but no vertebral column. (from Marine vertebrate)
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Image 22Coral reef (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 23General characteristics of a large marine ecosystem (Gulf of Alaska) (from Marine ecosystem)
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Image 25Intertidal zones (from Marine ecosystem)
- ... the Blue Whale has the largest penis of any animal on earth, estimated at over 2 m (more than 6½ feet)
- ... Shark jaws are strong enough to bite a turtle in half.
- ... Some sharks, if inverted, enter a natural state of temporary paralysis called tonic immobility. Researchers use this condition for handling sharks safely.
- ... A whale shark's skin is around 10 cm thick, making it the thickest skin in the world.
- ... The ear bone called the hammer (malleus) in cetaceans is fused to the walls of the bone cavity where the ear bones are, making hearing in air nearly impossible. Instead sound is transmitted through their jaws and skull bones.
- ... Some cichlid fish, crocodiles and frogs keep their eggs or young in their mouths or stomachs.
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