Organisms That Live On Or In The Ocean Floor

They could be the oldest known organisms on planet earth.

Organisms that live on or in the ocean floor. While female zombie worms are about 2 inches long males are microscopic and live as parasites on the female body. These deep sea creatures have made the lowest parts of the world their home surviving thousands of meters below the surface. Organisms that need light for photosynthesis must live near the ocean floor. New species are discovered in the ocean each year by marine biologists and other ocean scientists.

The bottom of the ocean is a major area of decomposition where organic material is recycled cells are broken down and nutrients are released by bacteria and fungi. Most marine animals live in this zone and feed off of photoplankton the basis of the ocean food chain and smaller fish. Some species even live under the surface of the bottom of the ocean called infauna. But that s not all.

These worms secrete chemicals and carry symbiotic bacteria that help them digest bones and feed on the same. Deep ocean hydrothermal vent ecosystems were discovered in 1977. Down in those environments there are all kinds of hazards and complications. Organisms that live deep in the ocean must be able to withstand high.

Oceanography study the ocean including the properties and movements of the ocean water the characteristics of the ocean floor and the organisms that live in the ocean. These species can be found in the intertidal shelf bathyal abyssal and hadal zones. In most of the world the ocean floor is very deep averaging 3 790 meters 12 430 ft in depth. 100 million year old life forms found on the ocean floor.

The deep ocean zone extends from the low tide line out to the edge of the continental shelf. Seventy five percent of the ocean floor lies in this zone. Nearly half of the world s sea floors are over 3 000 meters 9 800 ft deep. Researchers have found bacteria fungi and viruses living a mile and a half almost 2 5 km beneath the ocean floor.

Many of these newly discovered species live deep on the ocean floor in unique habitats that depend on plate movement underwater volcanoes and cold water seeps. Contrary to popular belief most of the sea floor known as the open ocean is not really a habitat for animals just a place they pass by on the way to somewhere else.