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Aphotic vs. Photic Zones
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Photic & Aphotic Zones
Characteristics and abiotic/biotic factors
Photic Zone
The photic zone of the ocean is the range that light can still penetrate through the water.
About 90% of the organisms living in the ocean live here
Image
Photic Zone Biotic Factors
Biotic Factors
Because 90% of aquatic life in oceans lives in the Photic Zone, there are many, many species of fish, plankton, mammals, and more.
Striped Marlin
Whales
Whales -
Very large mammals that
eat krill, plankton, and fish
Because they are mammals,
it is essential that they live
near the surface, as they cannot
filter oxygen from water like most
other aquatic animals.
Abiotic Factors
The most important abiotic factor of the Photic Zone is the presence of sunlight!
The Photic Zone is defined by sunlight penetration, and it is essential to all life inside the zone.
Another very important factor is salt!
Salt
Salt
The amount of salt in a ocean is very important
to the animals that can survive there. There are
some animals that cannot survive in salty waters,
and others that require salt to survive
Between
In Between
In between the two zones is an interesting topic-
The place where the light finally dwindles enough for it to be called the Aphotic Zone isn't what I mean-
Every night, many organisms swim upwards from the Aphotic Zone to the Photic Zone; they feed on creatures that are not able to survive without light.
This migration is one of the biggest in nature in terms of number of creatures.
Organisms
Copepods
& Hatchetfish
The copepods live in the Photic Zone and at night, they feed on phytoplankton
While the copepods are feeding, the hatchetfish from the Aphotic Zone take the oppurtuinty to feed on them
Aphotic Zone
The part of the ocean where light does not penetrate and it gets progressively darker and harder for life to survive as depth increases.
The organisms that do live here have adapted to high pressures, low to no light, and lack of many primary producers.
Aphotic Zone
Biotic Factors
Biotic Factors
As mentioned before, the organisms that do manage to survive here have to be very well adapted to the conditions.
Some adaptations that are very obvious responses to the environment are the angler fish and oarfish.
Oarfish
Oarfishes are very long fish that are often called seas serpents.
They have been seen swimming with their length perpendicular to the surface (perhaps as a method of hunting- the sun would cast shadows of prey- but they die at lower pressure than the Aphotic Zone so this doesn't seem likely)
They mostly eat zooplankton and selectively strain different kinds from the water.
Anglerfish
Anglerfish are a very common example of adaptations to the darkness of lower ocean zones.
They have a "lure" atop their heads which has bioluminescent bacteria. In the pitch darkness, these small lures are beacons that draw in prey for the anglerfishes.
Their mouths have teeth that are curved inward so that when any prey gets sinside, it is a lot harder for it to escape.
Aphotic Zone Abiotic Factors
Abiotic Factors
The most important and most prevalent abiotic factor in this zone is the darkness, which all the organisms that live there must adapt to in order to survive.
Another quite important factor is pressure. Because there is so much water above so deep in the ocean, the pressure is greatly different in the Photic Zone. If organisms from the Aphotic Zone were brought into the Aphotic Zone, they wouldn't be able to survive because of depressurization.
Blobfish
Blobfish look very different when subjected to the pressure they are adapted to rather than the much lower pressure of the surface.
Blobfish
Sources
https://divemagazine.com/scuba-diving-news/mmf-study-black-and-striped-marlin-diving-behaviour
https://pixabay.com/photos/sea-background-ocean-waters-nature-3225720/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpback_whale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copepod
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/hatchetfish
https://pixabay.com/photos/water-waves-sea-ripples-blue-2208931/
https://pixabay.com/photos/shellfish-seashells-quiet-scene-756488/
https://pixabay.com/photos/seahorse-sea-horse-yellow-marine-1538016/
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/animals-a-to-z/deep-sea-anglerfish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oarfish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphotic_zone
https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/fathead-psychrolutes-aka-mr-blobby/