BIOL 3660 Exam 4 Name: ______________________________

December 6, 2018

Read each question completely and thoroughly before answering it. Please try to write legibly.
The questions on this exam sum to a total of 78 points, but your grade will be calculated based
on a score of 75 points. In other words, there are three bonus points interspersed among the
questions on this exam.

MULTIPLE CHOICE (10 POINTS)

1. Which is NOT a way in which a coral can obtain food?

A. Consuming dissolved organic matter (DOM)

B. Deposit feeding
C. Obtaining food from symbiotic zooxanthellae
D. Capturing zooplankton with nematocysts

2. What is the main food source of a green turtle?

A. Sponges B. Jellyfish C. Algae D. Barnacles

3. Which type of seabird obtains food through surface plunging?

A. Tern B. Pelican C. Frigatebird D. Penguin

4. The vast majority of fishes reproduce by:

A. Internal fertilization B. Broadcast spawning C. Simultaneous hermaphroditism

D. Viviparity

5. How can you tell a seal and a sea lion apart?

A. Sea lions are not members of the Order Pinnipedia.

B. Seals are noisier than sea lions.
C. The sea lions can rotate its back flippers forward.
D. Seals always live in harems.

6. What is the deepest zone of the ocean?

A. Hadal B. Mesopelagic C. Bathyal D. Abyssal

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7. What is the life history stage of sea turtles that we know the least about?

A. Eggs
B. Hatchlings
C. Juveniles
D. Adults

8. At what point do seabirds experience sharp declines in breeding success?

A. When their guano is all used up.

B. After humans have removed two-thirds of their prey due to overfishing.
C. Following a La Niña event.
D. When interspecific competition with humpback whales for prey becomes too intense.

9. What characteristics are needed in hermatypic corals in order to build reefs?

A. Nematocysts
B. CaCO3 skeleton
C. Symbiotic zooxanthellae
D. CaCO3 skeleton and symbiotic zooxanthellae
E. Nematocysts and a CaCO3 skeleton

10. Why do filter feeding fishes and marine mammals reach such large body sizes?

A. They have long life spans.

B. They have few predators.
C. They are not constrained by available habitat.
D. They take advantage of efficient trophic transfer by feeding at a low trophic level.

NAME THAT PHYLUM (8 POINTS)

Directions: Be sure to write the name of the phylum and not the common name.

1. __________________ The only phylum that contains a water vascular system

2. __________________ Members of this phylum have an exoskeleton and jointed legs.

3. __________________ Commonly known as arrow worms, organisms in this phylum use

whisker-like, grasping spines on their head to hunt their prey

4. __________________ Red algae

5. __________________ Sea turtles and sea squirts are members of this phylum

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6. __________________ These asymmetrically-shaped, benthic animals do not have any true
tissues or organs

7. __________________ Round worms that can be either parasitic or free-living

8. __________________ Organisms in this phylum either have a polyp or medusa body form

MATCHING (25 POINTS)

Directions: Match each statement to a term listed in the word bank below. Please note that not
all terms in the word bank will be used. Also, terms will be used no more than once.

WORD BANK
Acanthaster plancii Ambergris Apneustic Arribada
Atoll Baleen Barrier reef Bioerosion
Brachycardia Bubble net feeding Carnivora Cetacea
Claspers Corallite Cormorants
Crustose coralline algae (CCA) El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
Fibropapilloma Green turtles Grey whales Japan
Kleptoparasitism Leatherback turtle Manatee Marine iguana
Mesenterial filaments Mysticeti North Atlantic right whale
Norway Ocean acidification Odontocetes Oviparous
Pattering Pelicans Pinnipeds Planula larvae
Protandry Protogyny Recruitment Rorquals
Scleractinians Sea otter Sexual dimorphism Sirenia
Spermacetti organ Supply side ecology “The bends” Tubenoses
Vaquita Viviparous

1. __________________ Slowing down a whale’s heart rate to conserve oxygen

2. __________________ A subset of the Suborder Mysticeti which includes the largest whales in
the sea

3. __________________ An endangered cetacean that experienced increased mortality in 2017

due to an expansion of its feeding grounds northward into Canada

4. __________________ This body part helps corals digest their food and sometimes the tissues
of their competitors

5. __________________ Whales that feed on amphipods and migrate between Baja California
and the Arctic seasonally

6. __________________ A herbivorous marine mammal that occurs in the Caribbean, Florida,

and off the coast of Brazil

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7. __________________ This marine mammal, which was once hunted for its thick fur, is
capable of using tools

8. __________________ A suborder that includes sperm whales, dolphins, and porpoises

9. __________________ A member of the International Whaling Commission that participates

in scientific whaling

10. __________________ A diverse group of seabirds characterized by salt glands that occur in
their nostrils

11. __________________ Absorption of carbon dioxide by the ocean causes this change in
ocean chemistry, which can negatively affect coral reefs

12. __________________ Darwin first described this species of herbivorous reptiles

13. __________________ An organ used for echolocation

14. __________________ Stony corals that play a predominant role in building reefs

15. __________________ A term describing a species that gives birth to live young that have
received nourishment from their mother prior to birth

16. __________________ Polar bears are members of this order of mammals

17. __________________ A group that includes seals and sea lions

18. __________________ A process describing the development of a new cohort of fishes that
can sustain a fishery

19. __________________ Nitrogen bubbles can cause joint damage if a marine mammal ascends
to the surface too quickly following a deep dive

20. __________________ A type of coral reef that forms around remote, volcanic islands that
have been submerged beneath the sea surface due to subsidence and erosion

21. __________________ Organisms that serve to cement together loose rubble on coral reefs

22. __________________ A disease caused by a herpes virus that can kill sea turtles

23. __________________ Seabird behavior used to feed on neustonic organisms with the
seabird’s feet

24. __________________ Sequential hermaphrodites that begin their lives as males. Clownfish
are an example

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25. __________________ Frigatebirds use this feeding mode

DEFINITIONS (10 POINTS TOTAL, 2 POINTS EACH)

1. Tetrapod

2. Trophic cascade

3. Guano

4. Hermatypic

5. Convergent evolution

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DIAGRAMS (5 POINTS). Directions: Use the diagrams shown below to answer the following
questions about Natalya Gallo’s 2015 paper published in Deep-Sea Research I.

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1. Why is the abundance of organisms in the New Britain Trench (NBT) so much higher than in
the Mariana Trench (MT) and near Ulithi atoll? Provide two reasons. (2 points)

2. Based on the discussion with Dr. Gallo, sketch how biodiversity varies as a function of
disturbance. (Remember that food falls can disturb the equilibrium of deep-sea communities.)
How might this information explain the patterns shown above with regard to diversity at New
Britain Trench, Ulithi atoll, and the Marian Trench? (3 points)

SHORT ESSAYS (20 POINTS TOTAL, 5 POINTS EACH)

Directions: Answer four out of the five essays. You can leave one essay of your choice blank.

1. What is niche partitioning and how is it relevant to seabird ecology? Provide three examples
of how seabirds engage in niche partitioning.

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2. Describe five adaptations that allow marine mammals to dive to deep depths, spend substantial
time underwater, and survive in some of the coldest waters on Earth.

3. Based on material covered in class, describe two marine mammal species that were able to
recover from past exploitation by humans and two marine mammals that were unable to recover.
What threats did these species face? What factors can explain the different population
trajectories experienced by these species?

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4. Discuss five major factors that constrain where coral reefs can grow.

5. How do the reproductive strategies used by fishes, sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals
differ from each other? Which groups would you designate as K- versus r-selected species?
Explain why. What implications does this have for the recovery species from past exploitation
and anthropogenic threats?