Into the ocean
By Grace E Sherner
Introduction
If you’ve been to the ocean you might know a little bit about the zones of the ocean. But have you ever heard of the Blobfish or the Thresher shark? These are some cool animals that you probably have never heard of and they all live in different zones of the ocean!
From the surface to 200 meters deep
The Epipelagic zone is the zone that is closest to us. It also has another name and that is the Sunlight zone! The Sunlight zone is where most of the animals in the ocean live, Because the Sunlight zone is closest zone to us it means it is where the most visible light exist. The Epipelagic zone is also home to the coral reef, and that is where lot of animals live. Some examples of animals that live in this zone are the sea turtle or the sea lion along with the stingray. Have you ever heard of the Thresher shark? The Thresher Shark is one of the many animals that live in the Sunlight zone. There are three main types of the Thresher Sharks. The common Thresher its scientific name is the Alopias vulpinus. The next one is the bigeye Thresher its scientific name is the Alopias superciliosus. The last one is the pelagic Thresher and its scientific name is the Alopias pelagicus.The Thresher shark sometimes eats crabs and shrimp they also eat schooling fish and cephalopods.
From 200 to 1,000 meters deep
The Twilight zone is the 2nd zone. even though we can not see it because the Twilight zone is 200 to 1,000 meters deep. It is where you can start to see the bioluminescent animals. That means the animals can glow! Like every zone the Twilight zone has a scientific name and it’s the Mesopelagic zone. The Twilight zone is the second zone closest to us. It is the zone after the Sunlight zone. The Blobfish has no skeleton and no muscles. It is a lazy eater it sits there and just waits for it’s food to come by. The blobfish’s diet includes crabs, mollusks, and sea pens. When the blobfish is in water it looks more like a regular fish then a blob. It is pink but when it gets caught in a net it looks like a blob shrivels up and dies. That is part of why the blobfish is endangered at the moment. Marine expert Professor Callum Roberts, from University of York, said that “There are some deep water protected areas around seamounts in the Southern Ocean but that is only really to protect coral and not the blobfish.” People don’t protect the blobfish. The blobfish has no predators because most of the time people will not catch blobfish. The blobfish has a scientific name the Psychrolutes Marcidus.
From 1,000 to 4,000 meters deep
The next layer of the ocean is the bathypelagic zone. That is the scientific name it’s other name is the midnight zone. This the zone where it starts to get very dark in the ocean it is pitch black. Not many animals live in this zone because the water pressure is too strong. But some animals do live in this zone like the Cookie cutter shark, or the deep sea Jellyfish. This is also the third zone of the ocean and it is 1,000 to 4,000 meters deep that is equal to 13,124 feet.
The next animal is the Dumbo octopus. This animal is a small octopus that is 20 to 30 centimeters long, that eats copepods, isopods, bristle worms, and amphipods. the dumbo octopus eats its food whole.Dumbo octopuses’ eats their prey whole. The average lifespan of this octopus is between 3-5 years. The Dumbo octopus is the deepest living species of octopuses in the ocean. This animal can be different colors. Some colors are red or orange. The Dumbo octopus has a soft head shaped body with 8 tentacles or arms.
4,000 to 6,000 meters deep
This is the last zone of the ocean that you will learn about it is called the Abyss or the Abyssal zone but you could also call it the Abyssopelagic Zone Because that is it’s scientific name. There is no light in this zone. And almost no animals live in this zone but if any animals do the will most likely be Bioluminescence. Another reason why most animals don’t live here is because the water temperature is freezing. One out of the couple animals that live in the abyss zone is the Angler fish. There is about 200 different species of the Angler fish. Some Things that the angler fish eats are crustaceans, shrimp other fish and snails. But squid can also fall for the angler fishes lure. This deep sea creature is a Bioluminescent animal. The anglerfish has a light on top of its head that lures its prey into them. The anglerfish has a scientific name it is the Melanocetus Johnsoni. This animal’s body is the shape of a basketball and it has a big mouth to eat.
Conclusion
Now you know the mysteries of the ocean. You know that the blobfish lives in lives in the epipelagic zone, and the thresher shark lives in the Mesopelagic Zone, and most important you know about the layers or zones of the ocean. Imagine what else we can find in the depths of the ocean.
Citations
“Anglerfish.” AMNH. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/creatures-of-light/creatures/anglerfish>.
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“Deep Sea Anglerfish.” – Deep Sea Creatures on Sea and Sky. Web. 15 Mar. 2016. <http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/anglerfish.html>.
“Dumbo Octopus Facts.” Dumbo Octopus Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2016. <http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/dumbo_octopus_facts/268/>.
“Layers of the Ocean.” – Deep Sea Creatures on Sea and Sky. Web. 08 Mar. 2016. <http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/ocean-layers.html>.
“Log In Http://school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/275144.” Britannica School. Web. 08 Mar. 2016. <http://school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/275144>.
Rogers, Mike. “Thresher Shark Facts, Stats, And Cool Info.” Welcome To SharkSidercom. Web. 07 Mar. 2016. <http://www.sharksider.com/thresher-shark/>.
“Top 17 Blobfish Facts – Diet, Predators & More | Facts.net.” Facts. 2015. Web. 15 Mar. 2016. <http://facts.net/blobfish-facts/>.