The Extreme Deep Ocean Environment and the Cookiecutter Shark

An environment is the conditions or surroundings in which an being belongs in. An extreme environment has extreme conditions outside of the linguistic rule range in which organisms usually survive. These extreme conditions could be things such as very high or very low temperatures, an absence of irrigate or an abundance of water and very high levels of precipitation or very low levels of precipitation. An example of an extreme environment is the lately sea.The sea covers around 71% of the Earths surface and is secti championd into distinct naval zones. The deep sea refers to all ocean zones more(prenominal) than 1,000m below the surface. These zones ar the Bathypelagic zone (Midnight Zone), the Abyssopelagic Zone (The Abyss) and the Hadalpelagic Zone (The Trenches). The different deep ocean zones all befuddle varying extreme conditions that require the organisms which live within them to adapt.One of the creatures that lives in the deep ocean is the Cookiecutter chisel, f ormerly cognize as the Cigar Shark. The Cookiecutter Shark lives among the unfathom equal and Midnight zones and sometimes risings to the Twilight Zone. The shark is a parasite which essence that it eats its predate in units of less than one and is named after the cookie shaped bites it leaves on its prey.Describe the conditions of the deep ocean zone(s) that require special adaptations for survival of the marine organism.Im going to be outlining the conditions of the Midnight and Abyssal zones as these are the deep ocean zones in which my chosen organism lives.SunlightIn the Midnight and Abyssal zones there is no sunlight kernel that it is very dark. Most creatures in these zones are dark coloured. The dark colouring acts a camouflage against the darkness of the water to keep the creatures hidden from predators. This increases their chances of survival as it means they are less presumable to be found and hunted by predators. Another adaptation that these creatures have is b ioluminescence.Bioluminescence is the ability to fetch light by physiological processes which helps the species lure prey. If deep sea creatures werent bioluminescent they would be invisible to prey because of their dark camouflage and would because not be able to attract them. Bioluminescence can to a fault serve to produce light in determine for creatures to see.Because there is no sunlight in these zones, there are no plants. This is because plants require sunlight to carry out photosynthesis and therefore live. It is extremely grueling to see anything in these deep ocean zones, therefore creatures which live in these zones must have adaptations for their eyes which allow them to see in the dark. Most deep sea creatures have very lifesize eyes and reflective retinas to help them see. They are also helped through the use of bioluminescence as mentioned above.TemperatureThe Midnight and Abyssal zones have a temperature range of 2 4 degrees celsius. It is slightly warmer in th e Midnight Zone compared to the Abyssal Zone as it is closer to the surface of the water and is therefore closer to sunlight which come throughs warmth. Most animals in the deep ocean zones travel very slowly because their metabolism is slowed down by the cold temperatures meaning they cant get as much energy as fast as some other creatures in the warmer ocean zones (3). Some animals also have fat to stay warm against the very cold conditions.PressureThe pressure of the Abyssal Zone can reach 11,000 psi at times which means that the bodies of the creatures which live there need to adapt so they dont become crushed under the pressure. Most deep sea creatures are made up of liquids that are not easily compressed meaning that they are able to survive under immense pressure.These creatures also have strong bones so that they are not crushed due to the pressure. The pressure is so large because there is tonnes of water pushing down on the organisms which live within the deep ocean. The deeper the ocean zone, the more pressure there is due to the increased weight from above.Describe the adaptations that enable the chosen marine organism(s) to survive in the deep ocean zone(s).Behavioural adaptationsThe Cookiecutter Shark lives between different ocean zones depending on the time of day. During the day, Cookiecutter Sharks stay around 1,000 m 3,500 m below the surface in the Midnight and Abyssal zones. At night they climb to around 300 m below the surface in the Twilight Zone. The sharks move to shallower waters at night in order to feed. They do this because the shallower ocean zones such as the Twilight Zone, are home to the larger mammals which the Cookiecutter Sharks usually feed on. These include dolphins, whales, tuna and other species of sharks.Structural adaptationsCookiecutter shark is a grey/ brownish colour with a dark ring around its gill area and a lighter coloured belly. This adaptation allows the Cookiecutter Shark to remain camouflaged in the darknes s of the deep sea environment. Because the shark is camouflaged it means that it can remain hidden from larger predators. This increases the sharks chances of survival.The Cookiecutter Shark is also bioluminescent in order to lure its prey. The light from the sharks belly attracts larger fish which the Cookiecutter Shark feed on. The dark coloured ring on the throat of the shark, against the glow of the underside of the sharks trunk, is feeling to make the Cookiecutter Shark look like a small fish when viewed from below.The larger prey see this and move in to feed on the plainly small and harmless fish. This is when the Cookiecutter Shark turns from prey to predator and feeds on the larger creature by leaving cookie cutter shaped holes on the creatures body.The Cookiecutter Shark feeds on larger sea creatures by latching on to them with its smaller top teeth while cutting the flesh with its large bottom teeth. The shark spins its body to rip the flesh from its prey leaving a cook ie cutter shaped hole on its body. These bites are not fatal to the prey, but they provide enough nutrition for the Cookiecutter Shark.Because the bites are not fatal and the shark only eats a small crash of its prey, they are classified as a kind of parasite. The Cookiecutter shark has adapted to losing all of its teeth at once as opposed to having only a few fall out a time like other sharks. The teeth are then digested and are thought to increase the levels of calcium in the sharks body which helps keep the sharks bones strong. This is an in effect(p) adaptation because it makes sure the sharks bones are strong enough to withstand the immense pressure of the deep sea environment.In order to sea in the dark of the deep ocean, the Cookiecutter Shark has very large eyes on the side of its head.Physiological adaptationsThe Cookiecutter Shark has an oily liver that is larger compared to the liver of similar sharks. Its large liver makes up around 35% of its total body mass.(1) The C ookiecutters liver has low density oils which makes the shark able to float in the same broadcast as opposed to sinking to the bottom.This makes the sharks neutrally buoyant meaning they dont float up or down. This allows the shark to save energy because it has no need to constantly go to avoid sinking. This is good because in the Abyssal and Midnight zones there is not very much food available meaning that energy is very precious and should be saved wherever possible.The adaptations of the liver can also help the shark dive to greater depths. This would be very useful to the Cookiecutter Shark when swimming tush down to the Midnight and Abyssal zones after feeding in the Twilight Zone.Explain in detail and analyse how these adaptations go in concert to allow the marine organism to survive in this extreme environment.In order for the Cookiecutter Shark to survive in this extreme environment, it must have adaptations to withstand the pressure. Two adaptations that work together t o do this are the sharks teeth falling out and the density/size of the liver. The density and size of the liver of the Cookiecutter Shark is a very crucial part of being able to withstand the pressure of the deep ocean.The oil in the liver of the shark is very low density and not easily compressed(3), which feature with the large size of the liver, allows the shark to be able to withstand the immense pressure. As mentioned previously, it is thought that Cookiecutter Sharks lose their bottom teeth and then swallow them in order to increase calcium levels.This increased amount of calcium helps to make the sharks bones stronger meaning that they are less likely to break under pressure. If this didnt happen, the levels of calcium that the shark has would be lower and its bones would be brittle and easily crushed under the weight and pressure of the deep ocean. These two adaptations both work together to help the Cookiecutter Shark to survive in the Midnight and Abyssal zones.Another se t of adaptations that work together to help the Cookiecutter Shark survive in the deep ocean environment are bioluminescence, camouflage and movement between ocean zones. Because the Cookiecutter Shark lives in such a dark environment it needs to be seen in order to attract prey. The shark does this by using bioluminescence. The underside of the shark lights up against the darkness of the ocean to be seen from below by probable prey.The dark colouring of the shark does the opposite for the shark and keeps it camouflaged. This allows the shark to hide from predators and stay hidden when it moves from the deeper ocean zones to the Twilight Zone during the night. The colour of the shark also makes it seem small when viewed from below by prey. This paired with the bioluminescence fools prey into swimming closer to the shark in the hopes of eating it. When daylight nears, the Cookiecutter Shark then descends pole to the Midnight and Abyssal zones where it remains hidden due to its camo uflage.Explain in detail anything else that would be relevant to the organisms survival such as how the adaptations allow the marine organism to coexist with other marine organisms in the same ocean zone(s).The adaptation that allows the Cookiecutter Shark to coexist with other marine organisms is the teeth of the shark. This is because the Cookiecutter Shark is a parasite. This means that the shark eats small parts from prey as opposed to eating the entire organism. The shark takes small cookie shaped bites of flesh from the bodies of its prey. This leaves the prey injured but not fatally injured meaning it can live on and recover from the Cookiecutter attack.When I was interrogationing I found it was very difficult to find information about the adaptations of the Cookiecutter Shark that help it coexist with other marine organisms. This means that the Cookiecutter Shark is quite an independent creature and more research needs to be done about the nature and behaviour of this shark .ConclusionThe deep ocean is the largest of umpteen extreme environments on Earth and is home to very many different types of organisms all with their own sets of adaptations which work together to help them survive and coexist with other organisms. The Cookiecutter Shark is one of these deep ocean creatures and although I was able to research enough to write a report about it, more research needs to be done about this mysterious creature.BibliographyDeep sea Cookiecutter Shark Elasmo-research. http//www.elasmo-research.org/education/ecology/deepsea-cookiecutter.htm. Accessed 6 Jun. 2018.Interesting Facts About the Abyssal Zone Thatll Startle ScienceStruck. https//sciencestruck.com/interesting-facts-about-abyssal-zone. Accessed 5 Jun. 2018.How Deep Sea Creatures Survive Water Temperature nautical Fiboni. 15 Mar. 2013, http//www.fiboni.com/2013/03/the-survival-strategies-of-deep-sea-creatures/. Accessed 6 Jun. 2018.Cookiecutter Sharks, Isistius brasiliensis MarineBio.org. h ttp//marinebio.org/species.asp?id=491. Accessed 5 Jun. 2018.The Cookiecutter Shark Is A Weird Species Of Shark Shark Sider. https//www.sharksider.com/cookiecutter-shark/. Accessed 13 Jun. 2018.