Look Inside
The Marine Animals ebook will provide you with a great introduction to the wonderful underwater world. Covering classification, fish, sea birds, marine reptiles, marine mammals and marine invertebrates this ebook is a great read for anyone who is interested in understanding more about marine life.
Extract from the ebook "Ocean environments cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface; therefore it is no wonder that they also contain almost 50% of all species on earth. The exact number of marine species in existence is not known as there are many areas of the ocean that remain unexplored.
Scientists believe there are over 2.2 million species in our oceans. Over one million of these are marine animals. Marine animals can range significantly in size from microscopic krill through to the Blue Whale which is the largest animal to ever live on earth. The ocean environments they occupy can also vary from the intertidal zones along our coastlines through to the deepest depths of the oceans.
Marine species are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. There are many human activities that have lead to the endangerment of marine animals. These include overfishing, bottom trawling, whaling, pollution, habitat degradation and climate change.
Climate change associated with human activities over the past one hundred years has impacted greatly on marine ecosystems. The temperature of sea water in many tropical areas has been rising over time which has lead to the increased occurrence of coral bleaching worldwide. This is a stress reaction in coral in which corals expel microscopic algae which provides their food resource."
Pages: 115
Images: 39
ISBN: 978-0-9872647-8-7
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: classification
Taxonomy: grouping biological organisms
Classification
Phylum chordata
Other phyla in kingdom metazoa
Chapter 2: fishes
Superclass agnatha
Class cyclostomata (lampreys and hagfish)
Subclass cephalaspidomorpha (lampreys)
Subclass myxinoidea (hagfishes)
Superclass gnathostomata
Superorder selachii – sharks
Superorder batoidea - rays and skates
The whale shark (rhincodon typus)
Subclass holocephali – chimaeras
Class osteichthyes (bony fishes)
Biological characteristics of bony fish
Subclass choanichthyes or sarcopterygii - (lungfish)
Class actinopterygii – ray-finned fish
Subclass chondrostei
Subclass neopterigii
Infraclass teleostei
Examples of families of bony fish
Chapter 3: sea birds
Gulls – order charadriiformes
Terns - family sternidae
Auks – family alicidae
Puffins (family alicadae)
Albatrosses – family diomedeidae
Petrels – family procellariidae 50Pelicans – family pelecanidae
Gannets – family suidae
Cormorants – family phalacrocoracidae
Boobies – family sulidae
Frigatebirds – family fregatidae
Tropicbirds – family phaethontidae
Penguins
Chapter 4: marine reptiles
Chapter 5: marine mammals
Cetaceans - whales
Order sirenia
Order carnivora
Pinnipeds
Family mustelidae
Family ursidae
Chapter 6: marine invertebrates
Phylum cnidaria
Corals
Sea anemones
Phylum echinodermata (echinoderms)
Phylum mollusca (molluscs)
Phylum arthropoda (arthropods)
Phylum annelida (annelids)
Chapter 7: zooplankton
Glossary of terms