Marine Biology Test Questions and Answers |Complete Solutions Graded A+|100% Correct
Supratidal Zone beach plants, grasses, shurbs, and trees; upper beach with salt spray from
chrashing waves
Intertidal Zone between high tide and low tide; clams, mussels, sea worms, seaweeds; long
line of seaweed=strandline which marks high tide
Subtidal Zone area below the Intertidal Zone; surf zone; an area of turbulence; fish, crabs,
seastars, sea urchins
Neritic Zone above continental shelf; shallow seafloor around continents; main area for
commercial fishing
Oceanic Zone most of the ocean sea; Neritic and (this) make up the largest zone (Pelagic
Zone)
Photic Zone closest to the surface; light penetrates
Aphotic Zone no light penetrates
Benthic Zone entire ocean floor; Intertidal Zone to Basin Zone; organisms living here have
unique adaptations to the floor
sandy coast less stable, less organisms, older
rocky coast more stable, diverse organisms, protection
Estuaries coastal regions where the fresh water from rivers meets and mixes with salt water
from the ocean; highly productive
, brackish fresh and saltwater mixed together
bays, harbors, sounds, and inlets examples of estuaries
cordgrass and eelgrass common types of grass
oysters, mussels, blue crabs, killifish, and alewives common types of animals
bivales breathing in and excreting out
diamondback terrapins only turtle that lives in brackish water
Salt Marsh grassy areas that extend inland, nurseries, muddy bottoms, hardy grasses,
nesting and breeding grounds
Mud Flat dark muddy sand, no grasses, no aeration in the sand, causes decaying organisms
to produce H2S (foul smelling odor)
decomposing bacteria turning wastes into mud
Mangrove warm, tropical, swamps, sponges, inlets, bays, trees, erosion
Red Mangrove most salt-tolerant
Black Mangrove narrow leaves, excretes salt
Supratidal Zone beach plants, grasses, shurbs, and trees; upper beach with salt spray from
chrashing waves
Intertidal Zone between high tide and low tide; clams, mussels, sea worms, seaweeds; long
line of seaweed=strandline which marks high tide
Subtidal Zone area below the Intertidal Zone; surf zone; an area of turbulence; fish, crabs,
seastars, sea urchins
Neritic Zone above continental shelf; shallow seafloor around continents; main area for
commercial fishing
Oceanic Zone most of the ocean sea; Neritic and (this) make up the largest zone (Pelagic
Zone)
Photic Zone closest to the surface; light penetrates
Aphotic Zone no light penetrates
Benthic Zone entire ocean floor; Intertidal Zone to Basin Zone; organisms living here have
unique adaptations to the floor
sandy coast less stable, less organisms, older
rocky coast more stable, diverse organisms, protection
Estuaries coastal regions where the fresh water from rivers meets and mixes with salt water
from the ocean; highly productive
, brackish fresh and saltwater mixed together
bays, harbors, sounds, and inlets examples of estuaries
cordgrass and eelgrass common types of grass
oysters, mussels, blue crabs, killifish, and alewives common types of animals
bivales breathing in and excreting out
diamondback terrapins only turtle that lives in brackish water
Salt Marsh grassy areas that extend inland, nurseries, muddy bottoms, hardy grasses,
nesting and breeding grounds
Mud Flat dark muddy sand, no grasses, no aeration in the sand, causes decaying organisms
to produce H2S (foul smelling odor)
decomposing bacteria turning wastes into mud
Mangrove warm, tropical, swamps, sponges, inlets, bays, trees, erosion
Red Mangrove most salt-tolerant
Black Mangrove narrow leaves, excretes salt
