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Comprehensive Ocean 100 SDSU Fall 2025 Lab
Practical Exam Study Guide Featuring Key
Concepts, Sample Questions, Detailed Answers,
Marine Science Techniques, Preparation Tips,
and Essential Skills for Academic Success
Excellence
Euphotic zone - __100% correct answer as first 200 meters
-where photosynthesis can take place
-suns radiation can be absorbed
Seed Plants - __100% correct answer as -true plants
-not very abundant
-grasses, eelgrass and surfgrass
-mangroves
-like warm, muddy waters
-have a root system
Protists - __100% correct answer as a) large algae(seaweed)
-brown algae(kelp), green (sponge weed), red (rhodophyta)
b) phytoplankton(small algae)
-most producers
-diatoms
-coccolithophores
-dinoflagellates
Eukaryotes - __100% correct answer as seed plants and protists
Prokaryotes - __100% correct answer as -ancient and very old
-blue-green algae, cyanobacteria
-first photosynthesizers, phytoplankton (chalk)
-red algae is adapted to survive at greater depths (irish moss)
regions of high productivity - __100% correct answer as -polar regions
-coasts
-coral reefs
, 2
polar regions - __100% correct answer as -no thermocline
-great amounts of sea life
coasts - __100% correct answer as -upwelling b/c eckman transport(winds moving
water)
-nutrients coming from land
coral reefs - __100% correct answer as very productive
regions of low productivity - __100% correct answer as -subtropical gyres
-far from coasts
-water doesn't move up or down
-no upwelling
-very high thermocline
energy flow - __100% correct answer as -Producers
-Consumers
producers - __100% correct answer as -all photosynthetic
-autotrophs-self surviving (produce their own food)
consumers - __100% correct answer as -all animals
-heterotrophs -must consume other organisms (can't stay alive if they don't)
vertebrates - __100% correct answer as fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and
mammals
Adaptations to the Marine Environment - __100% correct answer as 1.
Swimming/buoyancy
2. Avoiding Predators
3. Gas Exchange
4. Adaptations of deep sea fishes
Diffusion - __100% correct answer as there is a higher concentration of C02 in the
water as the fish breathes there is a lower concentration of C02 in the blood
Bony fishes - __100% correct answer as -osteichthyes
-most successful group in the oceans
Placoderms - __100% correct answer as -armored jawed fishes
-400 mya
-some of the oldest fishes
Cartilaginous fish - __100% correct answer as -chondrichthyes
, 3
-sharks, rays
-been around for ~300 million years
Sharks - __100% correct answer as 1) 80% of all species are not dangerous
2) Remarkable senses: lateral line
3) Very successful, well adapted fishes
Whale Shark - __100% correct answer as -largest fish (15meters ~45 feet long)
-feeds on plankton and krill
Characteristics of ALL Mammals - __100% correct answer as -mammary glands
-hair/fur
-live young
Marine Mammals - __100% correct answer as -streamline body
-high metabolism
-large (blue whale is largest)
3 orders of Marine Mammals - __100% correct answer as 1) Cetacea
2) Pinnipedia
3) Sirenia
Cetacea - __100% correct answer as -whales, dolphins, porpoises
-intelligent and social
-whales largest
-porpoises smallest
-evolved from hoofed land mammals
-2 main groups
A)Odontoceti- toothed whales
B)Mysticeti- baleen whales
Pinnipedia - __100% correct answer as -seals, sea lions, walruses
-all carnivorous and closely relate to whales
A)eared seals
B) true seals (phocids)
Sirenia - __100% correct answer as - sea cows, manatees, dugongs
-herbivores
-evolved from elephants
What is taken from algae for our use? - __100% correct answer as -carragenan:
thickener and emulsifier
-taken from red algae(irish moss)
Comprehensive Ocean 100 SDSU Fall 2025 Lab
Practical Exam Study Guide Featuring Key
Concepts, Sample Questions, Detailed Answers,
Marine Science Techniques, Preparation Tips,
and Essential Skills for Academic Success
Excellence
Euphotic zone - __100% correct answer as first 200 meters
-where photosynthesis can take place
-suns radiation can be absorbed
Seed Plants - __100% correct answer as -true plants
-not very abundant
-grasses, eelgrass and surfgrass
-mangroves
-like warm, muddy waters
-have a root system
Protists - __100% correct answer as a) large algae(seaweed)
-brown algae(kelp), green (sponge weed), red (rhodophyta)
b) phytoplankton(small algae)
-most producers
-diatoms
-coccolithophores
-dinoflagellates
Eukaryotes - __100% correct answer as seed plants and protists
Prokaryotes - __100% correct answer as -ancient and very old
-blue-green algae, cyanobacteria
-first photosynthesizers, phytoplankton (chalk)
-red algae is adapted to survive at greater depths (irish moss)
regions of high productivity - __100% correct answer as -polar regions
-coasts
-coral reefs
, 2
polar regions - __100% correct answer as -no thermocline
-great amounts of sea life
coasts - __100% correct answer as -upwelling b/c eckman transport(winds moving
water)
-nutrients coming from land
coral reefs - __100% correct answer as very productive
regions of low productivity - __100% correct answer as -subtropical gyres
-far from coasts
-water doesn't move up or down
-no upwelling
-very high thermocline
energy flow - __100% correct answer as -Producers
-Consumers
producers - __100% correct answer as -all photosynthetic
-autotrophs-self surviving (produce their own food)
consumers - __100% correct answer as -all animals
-heterotrophs -must consume other organisms (can't stay alive if they don't)
vertebrates - __100% correct answer as fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and
mammals
Adaptations to the Marine Environment - __100% correct answer as 1.
Swimming/buoyancy
2. Avoiding Predators
3. Gas Exchange
4. Adaptations of deep sea fishes
Diffusion - __100% correct answer as there is a higher concentration of C02 in the
water as the fish breathes there is a lower concentration of C02 in the blood
Bony fishes - __100% correct answer as -osteichthyes
-most successful group in the oceans
Placoderms - __100% correct answer as -armored jawed fishes
-400 mya
-some of the oldest fishes
Cartilaginous fish - __100% correct answer as -chondrichthyes
, 3
-sharks, rays
-been around for ~300 million years
Sharks - __100% correct answer as 1) 80% of all species are not dangerous
2) Remarkable senses: lateral line
3) Very successful, well adapted fishes
Whale Shark - __100% correct answer as -largest fish (15meters ~45 feet long)
-feeds on plankton and krill
Characteristics of ALL Mammals - __100% correct answer as -mammary glands
-hair/fur
-live young
Marine Mammals - __100% correct answer as -streamline body
-high metabolism
-large (blue whale is largest)
3 orders of Marine Mammals - __100% correct answer as 1) Cetacea
2) Pinnipedia
3) Sirenia
Cetacea - __100% correct answer as -whales, dolphins, porpoises
-intelligent and social
-whales largest
-porpoises smallest
-evolved from hoofed land mammals
-2 main groups
A)Odontoceti- toothed whales
B)Mysticeti- baleen whales
Pinnipedia - __100% correct answer as -seals, sea lions, walruses
-all carnivorous and closely relate to whales
A)eared seals
B) true seals (phocids)
Sirenia - __100% correct answer as - sea cows, manatees, dugongs
-herbivores
-evolved from elephants
What is taken from algae for our use? - __100% correct answer as -carragenan:
thickener and emulsifier
-taken from red algae(irish moss)
