1. Life in the Ocean
Study Pack #10

2. Today’s Goals… I can describe the characteristics of ocean organisms
I can distinguish among producers, consumers, and decomposers

3. Ocean Life
Plankton
Nekton
Bottom Dwellers

4. Plankton Tiny organisms that float in ocean currents Examples:
Eggs of ocean animals
Very young fish
Larval jelly fish and crabs
Tiny adults of some organisms
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5. Nekton Animals that can actively swim Often feed on plankton Examples:
Fish
Whales
Shrimp
Turtles
Squid
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6. Bottom Dwellers Live on the ocean bottom
Can burrow into sediments, walk or swim on bottom, or be attached to seafloor
Examples:
Anemones
Crabs
Corals
Snails
Starfish
Some fish

7. Ocean Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a community of organisms and the nonliving factors that affect them
Sunlight, water, nutrients, sediments, gases
Every ecosystem has a:
Producers
Consumers
Decomposers

8. Producers Base of ecosystem Organisms that can make their own food
Photosynthesis
Chemosynthesis

9. Consumers Organisms that eat producers
Depend on producers for survival
Get energy from the producers

10. Decomposers Digest producers and consumers when they die
Example: bacteria

11. Food Chains
Energy is transferred from producers to consumers to decomposers through food chains