The googly-eyed glass squid is a blue, transparent organism with a body size of approximately 200 mm (7.9 in.) and notably large eyes. Mantle thickness is only a few millimeters. Females are slightly larger than males. The squid has eight short tentacles and a slightly longer pair at the end of its rather swollen body. The only visible internal organ is the digestive gland, similar to the liver of a chordate. As a defense, the squid is able to engorge itself with surrounding water to dramatically increase in size, appearing more intimidating. The squid is also able to escape predators using jet propulsion.

Habitat

Googly-eyed glass squid live consistently along the circumglobal 40° southern parallel, in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Immature googly-eyed glass squid are usually found at depths of around 900 m (2,953 ft). Mature squid exist at depths of between 1,600 and 2,400 m (5,249-7,874 ft).

Growth and development

Eggs are laid in clusters attached to rocks and plants on the ocean floor. Newly hatched squid develop rapidly into paralarvae. Female squid mature between 150 and 190 mm; males mature at 140 mm.Pregnant females carry between 6,000 and 8,000 eggs with diameters of 2.2 mm. These eggs are often visible through the squid’s thin mantle.

Bioluminescence

The cells of a googly-eyed glass squid’s eyes and tentacles form small, bioluminescent organs called photophores. These organs release light, making the organism distinguishable among the darkness of the bathyal zone. The use of bioluminescence requires energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)

 
Horseshoe crabs are among the world’s oldest and most fascinating creatures. They are estimated to be at least 300 million years old. The earliest horseshoe crab species were crawling around the Earth’s shallow coastal seas for at least 100 million years before the dinosaurs even arrived (which was about 200 million years ago). Since that time, the Earth’s land masses have shifted dramatically, thousands of other species have come and gone, but horseshoe crabs have survived and today remain much as they were those millions of years ago.Horseshoe crabs spend most of their time in salt water on the bottom of bays and shallow coastal areas, resting or plowing through the sediments in search of their favorite foods — clams and worms. In places where the water stays warm year-round, horseshoe crabs remain active all year. Where water temperatures are low in winter, they burrow down in the mud to wait for spring.Adult males arrive on the beaches in late spring, a few weeks before the females, and begin patrolling the near-shore waters for mates. When the females arrive, they release into the water a pheromone, a natural attractant that acts as a sexual stimulant. Horseshoe crabs also use their compound eyes to spot potential mates

BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Delphinidae

Genus: Tursiops

Species: T. truncatus

WHERE COULD YOU FIND THIS CUTIE? ^.^

The bottlenose dolphin can be found within temperate and tropical waters around the world. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
There are two different forms or “stock” of bottlenose dolphins, a coastal form and an offshore form. Whether these two forms are different species is unclear at this time. What is known is that they are genetically distinct from each other, prefer different habitat, look a little different (the coastal form is lighter and smaller than the offshore form), and have different ranges, behavior, and prey. It also appears that the two forms do not associate with one another.
New Jersey’s coastal waters are home to the coastal form of bottlenose dolphin. More specifically, it is referred to as the “Western North Atlantic northern migratory coastal stock”. These dolphins prefer marine waters relatively close to shore and over the continental shelf. They will also occasionally enter bays and estuaries in search of prey. Besides the Atlantic Ocean, they have been observed in Delaware and Raritan Bays as well as semi-enclosed water bodies such as Barnegat and Great Bays and the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers.

BLUE WHALE

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Balaenopteridae

Genus: Balaenoptera

Species: B. musculus

WHERE CAN YOU FIND HIM?
Blue whales live within all of the major oceans of the world, primarily in temperate and polar waters. They are not usually encountered within New Jersey’s coastal waters. Their migrationpatterns are poorly understood compared to some whale species, such as the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). It appears that blue whales may follow a similar migration as humpbacks within the western North Atlantic Ocean, feeding during spring, summer, and fall in northern latitudes and then spending the winter in the West Indies. Some individuals, however, may remain in their feeding grounds year-round.

HUMPBACK WHALE

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION 

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Balaenopteridae

Genus: Megaptera

Species: M. novaeangliae

WHERE CAN YOU FIND HIM?

Humpback whales live within all of the major oceans of the world, from the equator to sub-polar regions. Within the western North Atlantic Ocean, humpbacks feed during spring, summer, and fall near western Greenland, eastern Canada, and the northeastern U.S. (including New Jersey). During the winter, many humpbacks from this population can be found in the West Indies, their breeding and calving grounds. Some humpbacks, however, may remain at their northern feeding grounds during the winter.
Summer feeding habitat is within cold waters where prey is abundant. This is typically within relatively shallow waters. Winter breeding and calving habitat is within warm shallow waters. Prey is largely absent from these waters and humpbacks will typically go without any food during the months spent at the breeding grounds. Calving areas are usually near islands, offshore reefs, or continental shores. During migration, humpback whales stay near the surface of the ocean.

Bioluminescence questions

1. What is bioluminescence?
Bioluminescence means light (as in ‘illuminate‘) from life (prefix ‘bio‘).
It is produced by a chemical reaction in many marine or terrestrial organisms. The reaction begins with a chemical called luciferase that catalyzes another chemical, luciferin, to then makeoxyluciferin and light.
If you see bioluminescence from a boat it is most often tiny dinoflagellates near the surface of the water that begin this chemical reaction once they’re excited. A boat or a passing porpoise can trigger this excitement. On land we are familiar with bioluminescence in fireflies and a glowing fungus, called foxfire.
But, did you know bioluminescence is responsible for illuminating the majority of our habitable world? That’s right, the deep sea is the largest area of habitable space on our planet. A large number of species that utilize this adaptation live in that environment.

2. How does bioluminescence work?
“Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy. The name originates from the Greek bios for “living” and the Latin lumen “light”. Bioluminescence may be generated by symbiotic organisms carried within a larger organism. It is generated by an enzyme-catalyzed chemoluminescence reaction, wherein a luciferin (a kind of pigment) is oxidised by a luciferase (a kind of enzyme). Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is involved in most instances. The chemical reaction can be either external to cells, or an intracellular process. The expression of genes related to bioluminescence in bacteria is controlled by an operon called lux operon.”

3. What organism exhibits bioluminescence?

Glowing Mushrooms! 

4. What are the reasons why an organism would use such attribute?
 Most of the animals that use bioluminescence use it for many different reasons; such as finding a mate, using communication, to protect, to lure, and for camouflage. But, the animals themselves get bioluminescence naturally they use it for mating protection and for camoflauge

 
5. How could a biologist use a bioluminescent organism to determine the relative dissolved oxygen content of several different local water samples?
they could use bioluminescence organisms to determine the dissolved oxygen because of the fact that there is many plankton in the water that when touched and interacted with another form then activate their biolouminecence and it lights up