What are the names of sea animals? Nautical theme: Sea creatures
Marine fauna is the kingdom of many millions of living beings. Those who have at least once descended into the depths of the sea were amazed by the enchanting beauty and bizarre forms of the underwater world.
Amazing fish, fabulous algae, creatures that are sometimes difficult to distinguish from plants. For example, sponges. For a long time, scientists argued about where to classify them, animals or plants. After all, sponges have no bark, no stomach, no brain, no nerves, no eyes - nothing that makes it possible to immediately say that this is an animal.
photo: Jim McLean
Sponge
Sponges are primitive multicellular animals that mainly live in the seas and oceans, from the very shore to great depths, clinging to the bottom or to underwater rocks. There are more than 5,000 species of these animals. Most of them are heat-loving animals, but some have adapted to the harsh conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Sponges have a variety of shapes: some look like a ball, others like tubes, and others like glasses. They not only come in different shapes, but also have different colors: yellow, orange, red, green, blue, black and others.
The body of the sponge is very uneven, easily tears, crumbles, and everything is penetrated by numerous holes and pores through which water penetrates and brings oxygen and food to the sponges - small planktonic organisms.
photo: Katalin Szomolanyi
Despite the fact that the sponge does not move and cannot even move, it is very tenacious. Sponges don't have many enemies. Their skeleton consists of a large number of needles, which protect the sponges. In addition, if a sponge is divided into many particles, even into cells, it will still connect and live.
During the experiment, two sponges were separated into parts and united into two former sponges, with each part of the sponge uniting with its own. The life expectancy of sponges is different. It is short in freshwater - a few months, in others - up to 2 years, and some of them are long-lived - up to 50 years.
Corals
Corals, or more precisely coral polyps, are primitive marine invertebrate animals that belong to the type of coelenterates. The coral polyp itself is a small animal, shaped like a grain of rice covered with tentacles. Each small polyp has its own known skeleton - corallites. When the polyp dies, the connected corallites form a reef on which the polyps settle again, changing generation after generation. This is how reefs grow.
photo: Charlene
Colonies of corals amaze with their beauty; sometimes they form real underwater gardens and reefs. There are three types: 1) stony or limestone, living in colonies and forming coral reefs 2) soft corals 3) horny corals - gorgonians, which are distributed from the polar regions to the equator.
Most corals can be found in the waters of tropical seas, where the water is never colder than + 20 degrees. Therefore, there are no coral reefs in the Black Sea.
Science now knows more than 500 species of coral polyps that form reefs. Most corals live in shallow waters and only 16 percent reach depths of 1000m.
photo:LASZLO ILYES
Although corals create strong reefs, the polyps themselves are very delicate, vulnerable creatures. Corals lie on the bottom or grow in the form of individual bushes and trees. They come in yellow, red, purple and other colors and reach a height of 2 m and a width of 1.5 m. They need clean salt water. Therefore, corals do not live near the mouths of large rivers, which carry a lot of fresh, muddy water into the ocean.
Sunlight plays an important role in the life of corals. This is due to the fact that microscopic algae live in the tissues of the polyps, which provide respiration to the coral polyps.
Corals feed on small marine plankton that stick to the animals' tentacles, and then pull prey into the mouth, which is located under the tentacles.
Sometimes the ocean floor rises (for example, after an earthquake), then a coral reef comes to the surface and forms an island. Gradually it is populated by plants and animals. These islands are also inhabited by people. For example, ocean islands.
Starfish, urchins, lilies
All these animals belong to the phylum Echinodermata. They are very different from other types of animals.
Echinoderms live in salt water, so they inhabit only seas and oceans.
Starfish have 5, 6, 7, 8 and even 50 “rays”. At the end of each is a tiny eye that can sense light. Starfish come in bright colors: yellow, orange, red, purple, less often green, blue, gray. Sometimes starfish reach a size of 1 m across, small ones - a few millimeters.
photo: Roy Ellis
Starfish swallow small shellfish whole. When a large mollusk comes across, it hugs it with its “rays” and begins to pull valve after valve off the mollusk. But this is not always possible. The star is able to digest food from the outside, so a gap of 0.2 mm is enough for the star to push its stomach in there! They are capable of attacking even live fish with their stomachs. The fish swims with the star for some time, gradually digesting it while still alive!
Sea urchins Omnivores, they eat dead fish, small starfish, snails, mollusks, their own relatives and algae. Sometimes hedgehogs settle in granite and basalt rocks, making a small hole for themselves with their incredibly strong jaws.
photo: Ron Wolf
sea lilies- creatures that really look like a flower. They are found on the ocean floor and lead a sedentary lifestyle as adults. There are more than 600 species, most of which are stemless.
Jellyfish- unique marine animals that inhabit all seas and oceans on Earth.
The bodies of most jellyfish are transparent, as they are 97 percent water.
Adult animals do not look like young jellyfish. First, the jellyfish lays eggs, from which larvae emerge, and from them a polyp grows, which resembles an amazing bush. After some time, small jellyfish break away from it and grow into an adult jellyfish.
photo: Mukul Kumar
Jellyfish come in a variety of colors and shapes. Their sizes range from a few millimeters to two and a half meters, and the tentacles sometimes reach 30 m in length. They can be found both on the surface of the sea and at great depths, which sometimes reaches 2000m. Most jellyfish are very beautiful, they seem to be creatures that are not capable of offending. However, jellyfish are active predators. There are special capsules on the tentacles and in the mouth of the jellyfish that paralyze the prey. In the middle of the capsule there is a long coiled “thread”, armed with spikes and a poisonous liquid, which is thrown out when the victim approaches. For example, if a crustacean touches a jellyfish, it will immediately stick to the tentacle and poisonous stinging threads will be inserted into it, paralyzing the crustacean.
photo: Miron Podgorean
Jellyfish venom affects humans differently. Some jellyfish are quite safe, others are dangerous. The latter includes the cross jellyfish, the size of which does not exceed an ordinary five-kopeck coin. On her transparent yellow-green umbrella you can see a dark cross-shaped pattern. Hence the name of this very poisonous jellyfish. Having touched the cross, a person receives a severe burn, then loses consciousness and begins to suffocate. If timely assistance is not provided, a person may die. Jellyfish move thanks to the contraction of a dome-shaped umbrella. In one minute they carry out up to 140 such movements, so they can move quickly. Jellyfish spend most of their time at the surface of the water. In 2002 A huge jellyfish was discovered in the central part of the Sea of Japan. The size of her umbrella reached more than 3 m in diameter and a weight of 150 kg. Until now, such a giant has not been registered.
Interestingly, jellyfish of this species, measuring 1 m in diameter, began to be found in the thousands. Scientists cannot explain the reasons for their sudden increase. But it is believed that this is due to an increase in water temperature.
photo: Amir Stern
There are also many mammals that inhabit the oceans, seas and fresh water bodies. Some of them, like dolphins, spend their entire lives in water. Others go there mainly to search for food, as otters do. All aquatic animals are excellent swimmers, and some even dive to great depths. The size of land animals is limited by the strength of the limbs that can support the weight. In water, body weight is less than on land, which is why many species of whales have reached enormous sizes in the process of evolution.
photo: Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Four groups of mammals live in the seas and oceans. These are cetaceans (whales and dolphins), pinnipeds (seals, hares and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs) and sea otters. Pinnipeds and sea otters come to land to rest and reproduce, while cetaceans and sirenians spend their entire lives in the water.
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There are many animals on our planet, the appearance of which is very unusual and bizarre. The underwater world, where creatures with fantastic appearance live, is especially attractive for its mystery and inaccessibility. Here are interesting facts about some underwater animals.
Jellyfish Atoll
The Atoll jellyfish is distributed in almost all seas and oceans, but swimmers should not be afraid of meeting it - after all, it never rises to the surface of the water. This unusual jelly-like beauty lives at a depth of over seven hundred meters. Like other inhabitants of the deep sea, which are not reached by the sun's rays, the Atoll jellyfish can glow. Some other jellyfish that swim closer to the surface of the water also have this feature - they glow blue, while Atolla glows bright red. Glow (or bioluminescence) occurs when the protein luciferin (a diabolical name, isn’t it?) breaks down in the jellyfish’s body. But why does the Atoll jellyfish need this? Maybe this is how she illuminates her path or scares away enemies? It turns out that the Atoll jellyfish begins to glow only in case of danger. If a predator appears in her field of vision, wanting to feast on her tender flesh, the cunning jellyfish “turns on” a bright light, which is visible at a distance of almost a hundred meters. This “lantern” attracts the attention of other deep-sea inhabitants, among which there are larger predators than the one attacking Atoll. The aggressor immediately forgets about the jellyfish, because he must save himself. And the Atoll jellyfish, taking advantage of the situation, quietly disappears, turning off the lights.
Blue Angel
A miniature mollusk that lives in warm tropical seas received a very accurate name. To "float" on the surface of the water, the Blue Angel swallows air bubbles. It feeds on other small creatures, some of which are very poisonous. But this does not scare the baby angel: their poison is absorbed in his body and used, if necessary, for his own protection.
The colors of the Angel also help to escape from enemies and not become lunch. On top it is blue (as is clear from the name) - this helps the Blue Angel to be invisible on the surface of the water for flying birds. And the belly of the mollusk is light silver, and saves it from predatory fish. But there is a danger that this light, ephemeral creature cannot avoid - the sea surf. As a result, huge numbers of Blue Angels become washed ashore and attract people's attention. Some people select these blue beauties for their aquariums, thereby saving their lives.
Pike blenny
These predatory thirty-centimeter fish live in the waters of the Pacific Ocean at a depth of up to seventy meters. I must say that they are quite aggressive, and can even attack large objects. There have been cases when pike blennies attacked swimmers. But, of course, this fish attracted our attention with its enormous mouth. The blenny needs it not only to catch prey, but also to assert itself. Firstly, such a wide-open mouth scares off many predators, thereby saving pike blennies from the dubious pleasure of being eaten. And, secondly, the size of the mouth determines which male is dominant. It happens like this. Two fish, with their mouths wide open, approach each other closely and touch their mouths. From the outside it seems that this is a friendly kiss between two brothers, but, in fact, this is a banal competition for superiority in these waters. Whichever male has the biggest mouth wins. The loser has no choice but to quickly swim away.
Tunicate
These sea creatures received this name due to the fact that their body is covered with a thin shell on the outside, like a blanket. These strange animals look like some character from a science fiction movie. Their light body is a tube expanding upward. The wide opening of the head-hood is the mouth, and the small one on the side is the anus. It’s not for nothing that tunicates are also called sea flycatchers - the hunting principle is the same. Tunicates attach themselves to the bottom or to some underwater surfaces and wait patiently with their throats agape. It is clear that tunicates do not have to be particularly picky - whoever swims past is swallowed.
Harp sponge Chondrocladia lyra
The harp sponge is a predatory seabed dweller first discovered by humans recently (in 2012) near California. Little is known about the life of these creatures. What is clear is that they are attached to the bottom and lead a stationary lifestyle. Their body, similar to a harp or a comb, lying with its teeth up, has special sticky droplets at the tips, to which plankton sticks - this is how the harp sponge gets food.
Giant clam Tridacna
Tridacna is the largest bivalve mollusk on our planet; it is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. This marine creature lives for more than a hundred years, attached to coral. This gives it constant access to food, which is probably why the mollusk is so huge. As a baby, the mollusk floats in the water column, feeding on plant foods, and as it grows, it settles on corals. An adult mollusk reaches such a size that its valves do not slam shut, and the body of the animal is visible through the gap. Its dimensions can be comparable to the height of an adult - the length of the shell is 1.5 meters, and its weight is 200 kilograms. Among people living near the habitats of the tridacna, there are rumors that the mollusk also swallows people, although there is no exact evidence. But just in case, instructions have been developed for divers, which describe in detail the sequence of actions if you suddenly get swallowed by a cannibal mollusk (this is the common name for a tridacna).
Sunfish
This giant fish also has other names - “moon fish”, “head fish” or “mola mola”. It is truly huge - its length is over four meters, and its weight is more than two tons. The sunfish is widespread near Indonesia, which attracts a huge number of scuba diving enthusiasts to this country. Despite its size, the mola mola is completely harmless - it doesn't even have teeth. It feeds on plankton floating by. She is even too lazy to swim, mostly the fish lies on the surface of the water and slowly moves its fins. Surprisingly, this giant has a very small brain - it weighs only 4 grams. It seems that the moonfish does not shine with intelligence and intelligence (as well as beauty).
Deep sea angler fish Thaumatikht Akselya
Interesting fact. This deep-sea fish is named after the Danish Prince Axel, of course, not because of their external resemblance. Prince Axel was a man with quite a pleasant appearance and very respected in Denmark. Obviously, when such a terrible fish was first discovered by a Danish researcher in the middle of the last century, he decided to immortalize the name of the prince in such an unusual way.
Axel's Thaumatikht lives at a depth of 3,600 meters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. These fifty-centimeter fish are deep-sea anglerfish that have a luminous organ, although it is quite unusual.
Anglerfish are often "equipped" with a fishing rod located on their forehead that emits a light that attracts a "potential meal." But with Thaumatikht Axel everything is different. Its “light” organ is the escus gland, located deep in the mouth, in which special bacteria glow.
Very comfortably! Axel's Thaumatiht opens its unattractive and very large mouth, equipped with sharp teeth, behind which a light flickers, attracting the attention of gullible and stupid fish. They, like moths, swim towards it and fall straight into the anglerfish’s stomach. Tom doesn't even have to chase his lunch!
But this angler still has difficulties. Sometimes creatures much larger than himself swim to him “to look for a light.” And when the “big lunch” tries to get to the luminous point, it, of course, gets stuck in Axel’s mouth, which often leads to the death of the would-be hunter.
Pelican fish (largemouth, pelican eel)
All these names belong to one fish, which also has a mouth of a very unusual size. And these names speak for themselves. Largemouth is a resident of tropical seas. It can also be called a deep sea fish as it is found at depths of up to 3000 meters.
Pelican fish or pelican eel. These names refer to the largemouth's "shape." This is a sixty-centimeter fish with a long narrow body, like an eel, and a small head with a stretchy throat, like a pelican. Moreover, the mouth makes up a third of the total length of the large mouth. And if you add tiny eyes and the absence of scales to this picture, then the portrait turns out to be even better!
The pelican fish is a deep-sea anglerfish with a luminous organ located at the tip of its tail. Like Thaumatikht Axel, the prey comes to light. But if Axel “chokes” on large animals, then largemouth does not. In addition to a stretchable throat, it has a stomach that is also capable of very stretching. This allows the pelican eel to eat very large prey.
Hairy clownfish
Its other name is “striped anglerfish”. This small fish is found at shallow depths (up to 50 meters), spending almost all its time motionless. Its body is covered with soft, long skin “hairs” that sway in the water. The clown fish has a special fishing rod on its forehead - a long growth with a bell at the end. A frozen anglerfish moves it, attracting prey. But sometimes there are problems: instead of small fish, the brush attracts large predatory fish, which bites off the fishing rod. The new one grows within a few weeks, and during this time the clownfish sits hungry. However, she easily endures such a forced hunger strike.
Sea bat
When you look at this fish, you get the impression that it carefully takes care of itself and never appears in public without makeup: its eyes are expressive, and its lips are painted with bright red lipstick! Although, in my opinion, this did not particularly decorate her. The beauty lives at a depth of 500 to 1000 meters, the pressure there is enormous, and therefore the bat has a body flattened like a pancake. He cannot swim, he only slowly walks along the bottom, moving his fins. And the bat is lazy to walk; most of the time it sits and waits for prey. As a bait, there is a fragrant growth on its forehead, which attracts prey. Batfish are not eaten, but they still found a use for it. It is covered with a hard shell; the fish is dried, pebbles are placed inside - the result is a rattle souvenir with an unusual glamorous face.
Spadefish pink
Lives off the coast of Tasmania. Another name for it is “walker fish”. Scientists suggest that previously the shovelfish was bottom-dwelling and could only walk. And she does it very quickly, practically running. In the process of evolution, it acquired fins. And the fish gradually learned to swim, although it does it rather poorly and slowly. The name says a lot about its appearance: its compressed body really resembles a shovel, and its long fins are more like hands. And even the beautiful pink color does not make her attractive. The walker fish is on the verge of extinction.
Psychedelic frog fish
This rather large fish (can reach half a meter in length and two kilograms in weight) is found in the Atlantic Ocean, near Florida. Most of the time it lies at the bottom, buried in the ground - only its eyes are visible on the surface. This is how the frog fish (or toad fish) hunts. There are poisonous shoots on its body, so it is dangerous for swimmers and divers. It was called the frog fish not for its external resemblance to amphibians, but for the way it moves along the bottom. She does not swim, but moves by jumping, like a toad. It can also “walk” along the bottom, moving its fins like legs. But the most distinctive feature of the frog fish is that, unlike other fish, it can make sounds. Moreover, being in close proximity to her, listening to them is very painful for the ear (the intensity of the sounds is over 100 decibels). And they don’t look much like pleasant ones: sometimes you hear a rough whistle, sometimes wheezing, sometimes a nasty grinding sound. This is how the toad fish tells other inhabitants that the territory is occupied.
Ambon scorpionfish
The Ambon scorpionfish is quite widespread in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, in the Red and Yellow Seas, as well as off the coast of Fiji and Australia. This bottom-dwelling fish lives close to the shore, so it is easy to see. Scorpionfish attracts attention with its unusual, bizarre appearance and bright coloring. Depending on the conditions, scorpionfish can change color from light yellow, orange to bright red. Her entire body is covered with poisonous growths, which increase in size as danger approaches. The venom of the Ambon scorpionfish is so strong that it can even kill a person. Therefore, divers who are attracted to the underwater world of warm seas must be extremely careful. Surprisingly, this fish also has fur that periodically sheds. The scorpion fish is a proud fish; it will not chase a potential meal. Having changed color and merged with the surrounding bottom, the Ambon scorpionfish freezes motionless and waits patiently. As soon as some fish swims up to it, the scorpion fish makes a lightning-fast dash towards the victim - and that’s it: the poor fellow has no chance of saving himself. And the scorpion fish freezes again and begins to wait for the next “portion of food”.
Pancake fish
The existence of this fish, which looks like a ruddy pancake, was discovered quite recently, in 2010. And, strange as it may sound, the disaster on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico helped in this. The spilled oil changed the living conditions for many living creatures living in the Gulf of Mexico - the oxygen content in the water was significantly reduced (which negatively affected all living things). This also affected deep-sea inhabitants, who, saving their lives, began to rise to the surface. This is how people saw the pancake fish for the first time. This strange fish moves in the water in an unusual way. She cannot swim, but only crawls along the bottom like a bat. This slowness does not allow the fish to catch up with its prey, so it has to feed on whatever swims close. Pancake fish produces special strong-smelling substances that attract small invertebrates (they constitute its diet). The pancake fish itself is not used for food.
Everything inaccessible enchants. And what could be further from a person than the ocean floor? Sea creatures are so different from terrestrial creatures. I really want to know more about them. What do they eat? How do they live and protect themselves? There is so much that I really want to know.
Looking at the surface of the water, it is difficult to imagine the diversity of life that lurks below. But these are not only animals, fish and plants. The basis of the marine food chain is plankton.
What is plankton?
The entire world of marine animals would cease to exist without him. Plankton are microscopic creatures that are invisible to the naked eye. Their design does not allow them to move arbitrarily in the water. The position of this creature depends on the current, they are not able to resist it.
There are two types of plankton in nature:
- zooplankton, which is formed from living organisms;
- phytoplankton are special marine plants.
The latter gives the water a slightly green tint. There is so much plankton in the water that in one liter of it millions of these creatures are found. Moreover, they not only serve as food that all marine life eats, but also participate in the restoration of oxygen in the water.
Transparent antiquity, or Why the jellyfish is interesting
These inhabitants of the deep sea consist of 90 percent water. Moreover, jellyfish appeared on Earth so long ago that their distant ancestors witnessed the life of dinosaurs.
Some species of these animals have poison that can cause a burn on the skin of a person or even kill. For example, the box jellyfish is extremely dangerous. It kills as many people a year as do not die from all other inhabitants of the seas and oceans. The bite of this jellyfish kills in three minutes, and it moves at a speed of 2 m/s. It is difficult to escape from it, and surviving a bite is almost impossible.
The range of sizes of these creatures of different species is striking. The smallest of them are the size of a pinhead, while the largest have a dome with a diameter of two and a half meters, and their tentacles grow up to fifty meters.
Since jellyfish mostly die after reproduction, their life span is very short. Very rare specimens live in nature for more than two years. Most often they are given only a few months. In captivity, these marine inhabitants can live for quite a long time.
Boneless Giant - Octopus
These sea creatures are very interesting for children due to their unusual structure. After all, octopuses have tentacles instead of legs, and they have no bones at all. Thanks to the latter fact, this creature can easily squeeze into a tiny hole, the diameter of which is only one centimeter.
Here are some interesting facts about sea creatures - octopuses:
- the blood of these creatures is blue;
- they have three hearts at once;
- octopuses are deaf;
- they can separate any part of the body, which will then grow back;
- octopuses easily change their color to adapt to their environment;
- they turn completely white with fear;
- in order to confuse the pursuer, these animals throw out a cloud of ink.
Some types of octopuses are extremely poisonous. For example, the blue-ringed one, which has a diameter of about 3-4 cm and weighs only 100 g. Its bite stops swallowing after 5 minutes. And after 30 minutes the person suffocates. Moreover, there is no effective antidote yet. The only way to save a person is to perform artificial ventilation until the poison stops working.
Wonderful cetaceans
These inhabitants of the deep sea are mammals. Even though their bodies are quite similar to those of fish, they are still very different. The main difference is in the way of breathing. Marine fish breathe air dissolved in water. Cetaceans lack this ability. They need to breathe air from the atmosphere. For this purpose, they are forced to float to the surface. There they inhale and exhale. The latter is visible as a fountain of air with a small amount of water.
These mammals give birth to their young in water. Therefore, the mother immediately after birth pushes to the surface for the first breath.
The largest marine mammals are blue whales. By the way, they are the largest animals on Earth. The dolphin is the smallest of the cetaceans.
A little about different types of whales
Blue whales are already born giants. Their length reaches 8 meters, and they weigh about 3 tons. The largest female of this whale that was caught weighed 190 tons.
Most cetacean species prefer the sea. The exception is humpback whale, which lives near the coast. There are cases when these animals were spotted in bays and rivers. These sea creatures love to perform acrobatic stunts. They emerge from the water and dance gracefully.
These species of whales do not have teeth. Instead, the mouth is filled with horny plates called baleen. Through them, mammals filter plankton, which they feed on.
Such sea predators as sperm whale, feed on cephalopods and fish. They are wonderful divers. They can dive for squid to depths of up to two kilometers. While searching for prey, sperm whales are capable of not breathing for about two hours.
Another carnivorous mammal - killer whale. She has proven herself to be a brutal killer. But there are no documented facts about attacks on people.
Amazing whale narwhal differs from all others in having a long, straight tooth. Despite their menacing appearance, they are very friendly.
The most famous cetaceans are - dolphins. They are incredibly smart and quick-witted. They are easy to tame and train. By the way, they have a well-developed vocal apparatus and produce a large number of different sounds.
Unusual fish
The names of sea creatures such as sunfish, needlefish, flounder and swordfish. The first of them floats near the surface of the sea. This makes its fin visible above the water. From a distance it looks like a shark fin. However, it is completely harmless.
Needlefish has a unique way of hunting. She hides behind other fish and approaches the prey. At the right moment, she instantly sucks the poor thing into her mouth.
Angler invented his own style of hunting. This predator shakes its antenna with a growth that resembles a worm in appearance. The fish “bite” at him, and he eats them.
A flying fish invented a way to escape from enemies. She learned to glide over the sea. This is facilitated by its well-developed lateral fins.
Fish with eyes on one side
Flounders can have eyes only on the right or left side of the body. It all depends on the species. These marine fish are unique in that their eggs do not contain fat. This causes the eggs of most flounder species to float near the surface.
These fish do not like deep water. They live mainly near the coast. Rare individuals swim to depths of more than one kilometer.
Interestingly, flounder species are differentiated by mouth size. They can be largemouth or smallmouth. The first of them are predators, whose mouth is symmetrical and “equipped” with teeth on the sighted and blind sides of the body. Examples of such fish are halibut and flounder. They feed mainly on worms and small fish, mollusks and crustaceans, as well as brittle stars.
Warlike Swordfish
This name arose due to the unusual xiphoid process, which is located on its upper jaw. This is not the only feature. Swordfish have no scales. All this, as well as a sickle-shaped tail and a special shape of fins, allows it to be the fastest creature on Earth. Swordfish can swim for a long time at a speed of about 130 km/h.
For such speeds you need space. Therefore, it can only be found in the open ocean.
Swordfish fry feed on plankton. But after they grow to 2 cm, they begin to hunt. Their prey is small fish. At the same time, they begin to develop a sword-shaped appendage. The fry grow very quickly, and after a year their length is about 50 cm.
The predator feeds on everything that comes in its way. And the size of the prey doesn't matter. With her sword she strikes the sea dweller. There are known facts that pieces of shark bodies were found in the stomachs of caught fish.
A little about predators living in the seas
The most famous sea predators are sharks. They were able to survive the dinosaurs. Their sizes depend on the species. The largest of them reach 10-12 meters. Moreover, not all types of sharks are predators. There are some that feed on plankton. Sharks move very quickly due to their streamlined body shape. Unlike fish, they lay eggs, not eggs. These eggs may be attached to the bottom or algae. And some species of sharks carry eggs inside themselves. Shark eggs hatch completely viable.
Prominent representatives of this family: brindle and gray shark. The first one is painted in a very original way. So much so that it resembles a tiger. She doesn't swim far from the coastline. Its diet consists of fish and crustaceans, birds and small mammals.
Gray shark also does not swim far into the sea. She looks for fish and crustaceans in the shallows. It does not purposefully attack people. But a person running in panic can be mistaken for a victim.
Other unusual predators - stingrays. Their bodies are strongly flattened and resemble a scarf. When the stingray lies on the bottom, it is perfectly camouflaged. His swimming style resembles flying in the water column. Some species of stingrays are poisonous. They have a spike on their back that releases a poisonous substance. And their mouth is on their belly. Moreover, it is equipped with a large number of sharp teeth.
Leopard seal is a formidable and dangerous predator. This seal got its name because of its color, similar to the spots of a leopard. It feeds on penguins and other warm-blooded animals of the Antarctic. But the leopard seal does not mind picking up carrion or feasting on squid or fish.
Amazing facts about sharks
Only the facts are listed here. There is so much made up about marine life that we need to get more reliable information.
- These creatures are excellent at recognizing odors. Blood has a special place in this. They feel it even at very low concentrations.
- If the victim does not smell blood, then the shark perceives its movement. To do this, it has a lateral line, consisting of cells sensitive to vibrations.
- Baby sharks are born with a large number of teeth and can immediately begin to get their own food.
- By the way, about teeth. In sharks they are attached to the gums, not the jaws. Moreover, they form from 4 to 6 rows. Her teeth grow throughout her life, moving forward to replace the lost ones.
- The force of pressure of each tooth of a white shark is the same as if a load of 3 tons pressed 1 cm 2.
- These gluttons eat everything. Moreover, even inedible things are found in their stomachs. But this is not the most surprising thing. A shark can hold food in its stomach without digesting it for several weeks.
- The entire skeleton of a shark is made of cartilage. There is not a single bone in it.
- This sea creature does not have a swim bladder. This feature forces the shark to constantly move so as not to drown.
Enchanting reefs
Corals are formed from small animals. Although many believe that these are marine plants. Coral reefs are home to many animals and plants. This is due to the calm sea inside them. In addition, they have a lot of light and warmth. The inside of the reef is teeming with life, while the outside is empty and bottomless.
The largest coral has a length of more than two thousand kilometers. It is located off the coast of Australia.
Underwater volcanoes sometimes rise to the surface of the ocean. Regularly shaped coral reefs can form around such craters. They form coral islands called atolls.
The underwater world of the seas and oceans is diverse. Here, at depths of many meters, picturesque animals live. Names for many of them were given by scientists taking into account their distinctive features: body shape, fins, coloring, patterns on the skin, similarity with some terrestrial species, etc. Thus, some of the invertebrates were called “starfish”, “truffles”, etc.
Underwater inhabitants can be divided into the following groups:
- invertebrates;
- mammals;
- crustaceans;
- fish;
- turtles and snakes.
Marine invertebrates
Invertebrates include the following living organisms: sea anemones, stars, sea urchins, mollusks, sponges, corals, jellyfish, squid, nautiluses, octopuses, oysters, glothurians, triacnae, etc. These animals lack an axial skeleton. They most often live in tropical seas and stand out for their bizarre shapes and bright colors. Anyone who sees them in the water for the first time does not even suspect that they are living creatures. One might rather conclude that these are peculiar plants rather than marine animals. The names of each of them indicate the distinctive features of its “master”. So, it has a spongy structure, and the sea urchin is completely covered with spines, while the starfish is shaped like a star.
Marine mammals
According to some theories, marine mammals are our distant ancestors. After all, the world first began in water. seals, walruses, etc.) and cetaceans existed about 26 million years ago. Some of these species died and were replaced by new ones. Today, science knows about 120 species of mammals - inhabitants of the seas and oceans. They can be combined into three large groups: whales, dolphins, and seals.
Marine animals, photos and names of which are given above, are perhaps the most unique and interesting creatures on the planet. Bottlenose dolphins, white sided dolphins, striped and spotted dolphins - these animals are the most studied by zoologists and are in constant contact with humans, but much of their behavior remains a mystery to us.
Crustaceans
These animals belong to the class of aquatic arthropods. It includes crayfish, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, lobsters, etc. These sea animals, the names of which can be found in the menus of Japanese, Chinese, Italian and other cuisines, are valuable products rich in iodine, protein, phosphorus and other useful substances. However, some of them are very rare and are listed in the Red Book.
Fish
This is the largest group of marine life. They come in all sorts of colors and shapes. They have a variety of sizes: from microscopic to gigantic. Fish can be both peaceful inhabitants of the deep waters and bloodthirsty predators, which primarily include the so-called “wolves” of the seas - sharks. These are large predatory sea animals, the names of which indicate which of the earthly animals they are compared to. For example, there are cat, tiger, bull, leopard, zebra sharks, and not all of them are bloodthirsty creatures. By the way, the leopard shark is a peaceful creature that almost never attacks humans, unlike the white shark, the greatest hunter. They say that she is very cunning and smart. But the stingray, for example, is very dangerous for humans, because it carries a significant electrical charge and can cause death. However, most fish are peaceful creatures that become easy prey for people.
Turtles and snakes
Turtles are the only reptiles that have a shell. These marine animals have very intricate names: hawksbill turtle, loggerhead turtle, ridley turtle and green turtle. Some of them are large in size. As for sea snakes, they are the closest relatives of adders. However, in their way of life they are very different from their earthly relatives.
Marine animals are often especially popular - pictures for children depicting the inhabitants of the depths of the sea attract children because they allow them to immerse themselves in the unexplored expanses of the World Ocean, reminiscent of magic kingdoms and fabulous far-off kingdoms.
Pictures with names will help your child find out the names of sea animals. For children who can read, these pictures can also be used to independently study the topic. And children who have not yet mastered reading need to be helped to remember new acquaintances. You can conduct a thematic lesson dedicated to the inhabitants of the deep sea, and tell a few interesting facts about each of them:
Fish appeared before dinosaurs. They move even when they sleep.
An octopus has three hearts.
Fur seals practically do not get out of the water in winter and spring, but in summer and autumn they lie almost motionless on the shore, accumulating fat.
Seahorses can change their color like chameleons.
The sea urchin has five jaws.
Sea turtles breathe air, but during sleep they may not rise to the surface of the water for about seven hours.
Starfish can't swim. They move only using suction cups.
A walrus climbs out of the water, clinging to ice floes with its tusks. Therefore, in Latin, its name sounds like “a sea horse walking with the help of its teeth.”
The head of a jellyfish can reach a size of two meters or more, and the tentacles can reach 20 meters or more.
Shrimp eggs can be stored for years in dried form, but once they get into the water, the babies hatch within a few hours.
The crab always breathes air dissolved in water. Even on land - for this purpose it stores water reserves in its gills.
The killer whale is the largest predator that feeds its children with milk.
The sperm whale does not have organs that help recognize odors.
Dolphins had paws a million years ago.
Squids can fly like flying fish.
The stingray does not see what it eats: its eyes are on the upper half of its body, and its mouth is on the lower half.
Sharks grow new teeth throughout their lives.
Children find it interesting to work with cards, which can be used as pictures printed on thick paper and cut, depicting sea animals.
Cards with drawn sea animals No. 1:
Cards with drawn sea animals No. 2
Cards with drawn sea animals No. 3
Cards for children simplify the process of memorizing names, since when working with them, the baby uses his fingers, which contain a large number of nerve endings. By stimulating the work of the brain, the child activates his memory and quickly learns new material. In addition, cards are convenient to use for simple games that will make the learning process more interesting.
Card games can be played using wall posters.
Let the child draw out one picture, and then find the character depicted on the poster and name him. If such an activity is carried out in a group, you can draw cards one by one and look for the animal among the other sea animals.
When studying animals, you can use not only ready-made drawings, but also coloring books: let the child decide for himself what the sea inhabitants depicted on them will look like. Pictures for children that require coloring help to use motor memory, train the baby’s hands, and use their imagination. Therefore, the use of such benefits is of great benefit.
By exploring the underwater world, the child begins to feel like he is part of a huge global community, and this feeling of unity with the natural world contributes to his development and formation as a mature personality.