What kinds of animals ecosystems are found in the open ocean?

What kinds of animals ecosystems are found in the open ocean?

At this depth and pressure, the animals most commonly found are fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and jellyfish. Sperm whales will hunt at these depths on occasion to prey on giant squid.

What animals live on the ocean surface?

Organisms that live freely at the surface, termed “neuston,” include keystone organisms like the golden seaweed Sargassum that makes up the Sargasso Sea, floating barnacles, snails, nudibranchs, and cnidarians. Many ecologically and economically important fish species live as or rely upon neuston.

What is the ecosystem of the open ocean?

The open oceans or pelagic ecosystems are the areas away from the coastal boundaries and above the seabed. It encompasses the entire water column and lies beyond the edge of the continental shelf. It extends from the tropics to the polar regions and from the sea surface to the abyssal depths.

How many animals live in open ocean?

Ocean Life Scientists estimate that about one million species of animals live in the ocean. But most of them—95 percent—are invertebrates, animals that don’t have a backbone, such as jellyfish and shrimp.

What zones are found in an open ocean ecosystem?

The ocean is divided into five zones: the epipelagic zone, or upper open ocean (surface to 650 feet deep); the mesopelagic zone, or middle open ocean (650-3,300 feet deep); the bathypelagic zone, or lower open ocean (3,300-13,000 feet deep); the abyssopelagic zone, or abyss (13,000-20,000 feet deep); and the …

How many animals live in the open ocean?

What kind of fish live in the open ocean?

Examples of species include forage fish such as anchovies, sardines, shad, and menhaden and the predatory fish that feed on them. Oceanic pelagic fish typically inhabit waters below the continental shelf. Examples include larger fish such as swordfish, tuna, mackerel, and even sharks.