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Pelagic fish are fish that dwell near the surfaces of ocean, coastal and lake waters. They are typically contrasted with "demersal fish," which are bottom-dwellers, as well as with "reef fish," which live in or around coral reefs. Pelagic fish are divided into two groups: oceanic and inshore. Oceanic pelagic fish undergo long migrations and travel great distances, resulting in wide distributions. Inshore pelagic fish stay close to land and do not travel very far during migration. Pelagic fish come in a great range of sizes, from the small anchovy to the massive tuna.
Several species of insects can burrow into Sheetrock, destroying walls and wreaking havoc in a home. If you can properly identify the pests living in your drywall, removing them will be easier. Most insects start as wormlike larvae, so pests that look like bugs may actually be an insect infestation. If you see worms burrowing into drywall, contact a pest control specialist immediately. Insect larvae quickly grow into adults that can destroy an entire wall.
The intertidal zone is an area where the ocean meets the land, especially that area that is affected by the changing tides. Due to the physical circumstances of this habitat (it is exposed to the air during low tide and submerged during high tide) it has several unique physical characteristics and is home to a diverse array of animal and plant life.
The ocean is divided into layers, each of which has different characteristics and different organisms. The thermocline-twilight zone, also known as the Mesopelagic zone, is the layer that ranges from 656 to 3,281 feet below the surface. This layer is very cold, has very little light, has low oxygen and the main food source consists of particles of matter falling from upper zones, called marine snow. Nevertheless, a variety of creatures thrive here.
While the dedicated and keen-eyed observer can see much wildlife during the day (with a little luck thrown into the mix), many animals, including most large mammals, are more active at night or twilight. Night-vision binoculars give you the option of continuing your observations after the sun has set---and the chance to see elusive creatures that are less apt to be out and about during the day. Once you've acquired a good pair of night-vision binoculars, which often have both normal and infrared-enhanced settings, you can find the best spots to spot critters.
Although the frigid zones, also known as the Arctic and the Antarctic, have very cold climates they are home to many interesting mammals and seabirds. More mammals live in the Arctic because they're able to migrate across the land and the summers are warmer there. The Southern Ocean, on the other hand, separates Antarctica from other landmasses making land animals are scarce. However, seabirds and marine mammals live in this region, which is the coldest on Earth.
The Mesopelagic zone, also known colloquially as the Twilight zone, is a range of ocean depth that starts 650 feet below the water's surface to around 3,280 feet below the surface (200 to 1,000 meters). This area is sandwiched between the Epipelagic zone near the water's surface and the Bathypelagic zone, and represents the area of the ocean where light penetration from the surface nearly completely dissipates. This zone is host to a variety of oceanic creatures, most of which are defined as semi-deep-sea animals.
The bathyal, or bethypelagic, zone is the area of the ocean between 3,300 and 13,000 feet deep. Above it lies the mesopelagic zone, while below is the abyssal or abyssopelagic zone. The bathyal zone is in permanent darkness, with only a tiny amount of sunlight at the blue end of the spectrum penetrating as far down as the bathyal zone. This lack of light is a primary influence, along with water pressure, on the creatures that live there.
Animals who live in the surf zone (or littoral zone, from the Latin littoralis, from litus ‘shore’) burrow down into sediment to escape predators, avoid being dislodged by waves, and to limit their exposure to changes in moisture, temperature and salinity. Abundant dissolved oxygen, nutrients and sunlight make the surf zone highly productive, but also an area of harsh extremes. Burrowing down into the sediment is one way by which animals have adapted to exploit this ecosystem.
A "facies" is a distinctive rock type, which connotes a certain type of environment. A "facies fossil" is specific to that type of environment, and is less specific to a given region or date than it is to that environment.
Planet earth is comprised of five biomes and the aquatic biome is the largest since it covers almost 75 percent of the earth, according to the University of California Museum of Paleontology. Two regions of the aquatic biome are freshwater and marine. These regions consist of various ecosystems or zones. Within the marine region, is the ocean ecosystem. The open ocean is referred to as the pelagic zone. Plants such as surface seaweeds live in the pelagic zone as well as a variety of fish and marine mammals that have adapted to these generally colder waters.
The pelagic zone refers to the open ocean or deep sea and is divided by oceanographers into five distinct layers, according to depth: 1) epipelagic (ocean surface to 656 feet); 2) mesopelagic (656-3,281 feet); 3) bathypelagic (3,281-13,124 feet); 4) abyssopelagic (13,124-19,686 feet); and hadapelagic (19,686 feet to the ocean bottom). Although specific pelagic zone animals and life forms may be prone to inhabit one or another layer, it must be remembered that many such pelagic creatures may exist in more than one layer.
"Pelagic" is an adjective that means "of or relating to the open or high sea, as distinguished from the shallow water near the coast." It is most commonly used to refer specifically to animals that dwell in the ocean's pelagic zone.
