Marine vertebrate

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Ray-finned fish
Marine tetrapod (sperm whale)
Internal skeletal structures showing the vertebral column running from the head to the tail

Marine vertebrates are

marine reptiles, and marine mammals). Vertebrates are a subphylum of chordates that have a vertebral column (backbone). The vertebral column provides the central support structure for an internal skeleton. The internal skeleton gives shape, support, and protection to the body and can provide a means of anchoring fins or limbs to the body. The vertebral column also serves to house and protect the spinal cord
that lies within the column.

Marine vertebrates can be divided into two groups, marine fish and marine tetrapods.

Marine fish

Part of a series of overviews on
Marine life
Further information: Fish, diversity of fish, and evolution of fish

Fish fall into two main groups:

eyes adapted to seeing underwater, and a skin protected by scales and mucous. They typically breathe by extracting oxygen from water through gills. Fish use fins to propel and stabilise themselves in the water. Over 33,000 species of fish have been described as of 2017,[1] of which about 20,000 are marine fish.[2]

Jawless fish

monophyletic sense. Others consider them a sister group of vertebrates in the common taxon of craniata.[9]

vertebrates
.

Cartilaginous fish

Main article:
Cartilaginous fish

Cartilaginous fish, such as sharks and rays, have jaws and skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. Megalodon is an extinct species of shark that lived about 28 to 1.5 Ma. It looked much like a stocky version of the great white shark, but was much larger with fossil lengths reaching 20.3 metres (67 ft).[10] Found in all oceans[11] it was one of the largest and most powerful predators in vertebrate history,[10] and probably had a profound impact on marine life.[12] The Greenland shark has the longest known lifespan of all vertebrates, about 400 years.[13]

  • Cartilaginous fishes may have evolved from spiny sharks
    Cartilaginous fishes may have evolved from
    spiny sharks
  • Stingray
    Stingray
  • The manta ray, largest ray in the world, has been targeted by fisheries and is now vulnerable.[14]
    The manta ray, largest ray in the world, has been targeted by fisheries and is now vulnerable.[14]
  • Sawfish are rays with long rostrums resembling a saw. All are now endangered or critically endangered[15]
    critically endangered[15]

Bony fish

Main article:
Bony fish

Bony fish have jaws and skeletons made of bone rather than cartilage. About 90% of the world's fish species are bony fish. Bony fish also have hard, bony plates called operculum which help them respire and protect their gills, and they often possess a swim bladder which they use for better control of their buoyancy.

Bony fish can be further divided into those with

ray fins. Lobe fins have the form of fleshy lobes supported by bony stalks which extend from the body.[16]
Lobe fins evolved into the legs of the first tetrapod land vertebrates, so by extension an early ancestor of humans was a lobe-finned fish. Apart from the coelacanths and the lungfishes, lobe-finned fishes are now extinct. The rest of the modern fish have ray fins. These are made of webs of skin supported by bony or horny spines (rays) which can be erected to control the fin stiffness.

Marine tetrapods

See also:
Tetrapods and evolution of tetrapods
Some lobe-finned fishes, like the extinct Tiktaalik, developed limb-like fins that could take them onto land

A

Devonian Period when their earliest ancestors emerged from the sea and adapted to living on land.[17] This change from a body plan for breathing and navigating in gravity-neutral water to a body plan with mechanisms enabling the animal to breath in air without dehydrating and move on land is one of the most profound evolutionary changes known.[18][19] Tetrapods can be divided into four classes: amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
.

Marine tetrapods are tetrapods that returned from land back to the sea again. The first returns to the ocean may have occurred as early as the

Carboniferous Period[20] whereas other returns occurred as recently as the Cenozoic, as in cetaceans, pinnipeds,[21] and several modern amphibians.[22]

Amphibians

Pelophylax esculentus reported in 2010.[24]

Reptiles

Main article: Marine reptile
See also: Evolution of reptiles

Reptiles (Late Latin for creeping or crawling) do not have an aquatic larval stage, and in this way are unlike amphibians. Most reptiles are oviparous, although several species of squamates are viviparous, as were some extinct aquatic clades[25] — the fetus develops within the mother, contained in a placenta rather than an eggshell. As amniotes, reptile eggs are surrounded by membranes for protection and transport, which adapt them to reproduction on dry land. Many of the viviparous species feed their fetuses through various forms of placenta analogous to those of mammals
, with some providing initial care for their hatchlings.

Some reptiles are more closely related to

Extant non-avian reptiles which inhabit or frequent the sea include sea turtles, sea snakes, terrapins, the marine iguana, and the saltwater crocodile. Currently, of the approximately 12,000 extant reptile species and sub-species, only about 100 of are classed as marine reptiles.[30]

Except for some sea snakes, most extant marine reptiles are oviparous and need to return to land to lay their eggs. Apart from sea turtles, the species usually spend most of their lives on or near land rather than in the ocean. Sea snakes generally prefer shallow waters nearby land, around islands, especially waters that are somewhat sheltered, as well as near estuaries.[31][32] Unlike land snakes, sea snakes have evolved flattened tails which help them swim.[33]

Some

mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous
.

Birds

Main article: Seabird

marine environment. They are often called seabirds. While marine birds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. Examples include albatross, penguins, gannets, and auks
.

In general, marine birds live longer,

bubble-wrap
, cushioning the impact with the water.

  • European herring gull attack herring schools from above
    European herring gull attack herring schools from above
  • Gentoo penguin swimming underwater
    Gentoo penguin swimming underwater
  • Gannets "divebomb" at high speed
    Gannets "divebomb" at high speed
  • Albatrosses range over huge areas of ocean and regularly circle the globe.
    Albatrosses range over huge areas of ocean and regularly circle the globe.

The first marine birds evolved in the

period, and modern marine bird families emerged in the Paleogene
.

Mammals

Sea otter, classic keystone species which controls sea urchin numbers
Main article: Marine mammal
See also: Evolution of cetaceans, Evolution of sirenians, and List of marine mammal species

molting. In contrast, both otters and the polar bear are much less adapted to aquatic living. Their diet varies considerably as well: some may eat zooplankton
; others may eat fish, squid, shellfish, and sea-grass; and a few may eat other mammals.

In a process of

ichthyosaur.[38]

See also

References

  1. ^ "FishBase: A Global Information System on Fishes". FishBase. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  2. ^ "How Many Fish In The Sea? Census Of Marine Life Launches First Report". Science Daily. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  3. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2006.00968.x (inactive 31 January 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link
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  15. ^ Black, Richard (11 June 2007). "Sawfish protection acquires teeth". BBC News.
  16. ^ Clack, J. A. (2002) Gaining Ground. Indiana University
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  29. ^ Modesto, S.P. (1999). "Observations of the structure of the Early Permian reptile Stereosternum tumidum Cope". Palaeontologia Africana. 35: 7–19.
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  32. ^ Sea snakes[permanent dead link] at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed 7 August 2007.
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  34. ^ Martill D.M. (1993). "Soupy Substrates: A Medium for the Exceptional Preservation of Ichthyosaurs of the Posidonia Shale (Lower Jurassic) of Germany". Kaupia - Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte, 2 : 77-97.
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  36. ^ "Sardine Run Shark Feeding Frenzy Phenomenon in Africa". Archived from the original on 2 December 2008.
  37. ^ "The Society for Marine Mammalogy's Taxonomy Committee List of Species and subspecies". Society for Marine Mammalogy. October 2015. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
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  39. ^ "Blue whale". World Wide Fund For Nature. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  40. ^ Marino, Lori (2004). "Cetacean Brain Evolution: Multiplication Generates Complexity" (PDF). International Society for Comparative Psychology (17): 1–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
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