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alyspins
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Sea Grass Flats PLANTS
- Plants are submerged most of the time
- Vascular plants (have xylem and phloem-transport tissues)
- Not very well developed b/c in water
- Have flowers, water pollinated
- Water instead of wind carries pollen from one to another
- Asexual reproduction by runners (stolons) common
- Must have light, can't stand freezing, prefer salinity of 25% and up
- Northern limit in TX is CHRISTMAS BAY, N of FREEport
- Temp, salinity, mud in water all limit sea grasses
- Mud-> murky water->limit light->limit photo
- Grow on mud or sand
- Rarely grow in surf
- Usually in calm waters
- EXCEPTION-pacific coast-Surf Grass Phyllospadix spp.
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FOOD CHAIN of Sea grass flats
- Get more species here that salt flat
- 3D habitat= MORE BIODIVERSITY
- Vs 2D habitat of salt/mud flat
- High primary productivity
- Water always covers, plants are tough and some even have silica in cells
- Few direct grazers
- In order to handle this stuff, org. must have tough jaw and complex digestive system able to break down the long chain carbohydrates
- Those that can, fart a lot
- TX-main grazer=GREEN Sea TURTLE
- Used to be a lot more, but turtle meat was eaten lots and eggs were taken as aphrodisiac
- Sea turtle were like lawn mowers-kept grasses short and les expansive
- BLACK BRANT-small goose also eat grass
- Dark color goose, have triangualr bill and make funny noise
- More common in NORTH
- ANACHIS-snails graze on algae blades
- Common
- Most sea grass is utilized as detritus
- Dies, falls to sea floor, waves etc break it into chunks, bacteria etc break it down
- As detritus is MAJOR food source for offshore marine life
- For commerical shrimp etc
- Worms, shrimps etc depend on sea grass detritus
- In philipine island, make baskets etc
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Stotons and roots
- Bind to sediment
- Inhibits burrowing
- Will some things burrowing in between roots
- Won't find deep burrowers
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ANIMALS of sea grasses
- Will have small things in it
- Supposedly sephalacarid
- 1mm long-looks like worm-WIGGLE WIGGLE not scoot or scurry
- Among sea grasses shrimps, whelks, crabs, small fishes hide
- Shrimp Palaemonetes common
- Scallop Aequipecten are common
- Can swim backwards-escape mechanism =don't care where going
- Blue eyes, open shell with lots of sensors
- Hundreds of blue eyes
- Tentacles
- Rest on surface of mud
- GREAT nursery-lots of baby anything live In it
- Attracts big fish
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SEA GRASSES
- Don't get one washed up on beach
- Ruppia
- Tolerant of lower temperatures
- Goes north
- "Widgeon grass"
- Runner has leaves coming off it all over place
- Grows further upstream but washes into red fish bay
- Good food for ducks
- Cymodocea
- Manatee grass, blunt tips
- Diplanthera
- Shoal grass, sharp tips
- Halophila
- Sea clover, looks like marijuana
- Thalassia
- Turtle grass
- Large flat blades
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SEA GRASS MIMIC
- Look like sea grass
- Tend to move very little just hang near sea grass
- Pipefish
- Colored like-inhales copepods etc that come to close
- Related to sea horse
- Males are baby carriers
- Length of hand
- Tozeuma aka ARROW SHRIMP
- Slender long rostrum
- Hippolyte
- Short rostrum
- Sexually dimorphix
- Males have pincers and are short and stubby
- Barely longer than dime
- When knocked, both shrimp act like sea grass-just float
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MANGROVES-not sea grass
- Small trees or shrubs
- Can form mangrove swamp
- Don't tolerate freezing=> won't get swamp due to snap freeze
- -SOUTH FLORIDA/ CENTRAL AMERICA etc where get swamps
- 2 species in TX
- Avincennia Black Mangrove
- Shrub=short
- Has extensions of roots
- Pneumatophores
- Thought to be gas exchange
- Rhizophora RED MANGROVE
- No root extensions
- Prop root
- Can be tree
- Oysters, tunicates etc on prop root
- 3 dimensional habitat, attachment place on roots
- Hiding place for fishes, feeding places for crabs, shrimps and fishes
- 12 species in tropics
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Animals in mangroves
- In large mangrove swamps, can get big predators ex American crocodile
- Should you go to tropics and pacific may get SALT water CROCODILES=DANGEROUS big predator
- Sharks also found there-found here
- Tropical areas-can get other animals
- Snakes, monkeys, tigers etc in some area ie India
- High tide can get through on canoe
- Low tide must hack through roots
- HIGH Primary productivity mostly DETRITUS
- Help c protect against hurricanes etc
- Good fishing
- LEAF EATING CRAB Aratus
- Some marine animals bore into roots-shimpworm(mollusk), some isopods
- Some semi terrestrial crabs-run around roots and go on land-can get big enough to puncture tire
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REPRODUCTION of mangroves
- Have flowers, insect pollination
- Viviparous seedling
- Seed fertilized on plant, develops root before it drops off
- Float, root in sediment elsewhere
- Get eaten by sea turtles
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