Essentials of Oceanography, 12e (Trujillo)
Chapter 15 Animals of the Benthic Environment
15.1 Matching Questions
Match the organism with the appropriate zone. Not all answers will be used.
A) middle tide zone
B) high tide zone, supratidal zone
C) middle tide zone, tide pool
D) low tide zone
E) supratidal zone
1) acorn barnacle
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
6) Littorina (periwinkle snail)
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
Match the organism with the appropriate habitat. Not all answers will be used.
A) sandy beaches
B) mud flats
C) subtidal rocky bottoms
11) coral
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
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15.2 Multiple Choice Questions
1) The distribution of benthic biomass is related to ________.
A) current patterns
B) primary productivity
C) sediment variety
D) thermocline depth
E) wave energy
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
2) The most important limiting factor in rocky intertidal communities is ________.
A) food
B) light
C) nutrients
D) predation
E) space
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
3) A common inhabitant of the supratidal zone on the rocky shores of the Pacific Northwest is
the ________.
A) gooseneck barnacle
B) mussel
C) kelp
D) periwinkle snail
E) sea urchin
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
4
4) Two dominant organisms of the rocky shore found high on the rocks of the intertidal zone are
________.
A) buckshot barnacles and limpets
B) goose barnacles and mussels
C) keyhole limpets and Irish moss
D) periwinkle snails and kelp
E) sea anemones and hermit crabs
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
5) Two dominant organisms commonly found at mid-water levels of the rocky intertidal zone are
________.
A) buckshot barnacles and rockweed
B) fiddler crabs and Littorina
C) goose-necked barnacles and mussels
D) periwinkle snails and kelp
E) sea anemones and hermit crabs
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
6) Some organisms living in the high water portion of the intertidal zone cannot survive in the
supralittoral zone because they ________.
A) have planktonic larval forms
B) are sessile
C) cannot tolerate desiccation or drying out
D) cannot tolerate fluctuating salinity
E) cannot tolerate temperature fluctuations
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
5
7) The low-water portion of the rocky intertidal zone is dominated by ________.
A) hermit crabs
B) fiddler crabs
C) limpets
D) mussels
E) red and brown algae and surf grasses
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
8) The subtidal rocky bottom zone along temperate shorelines is dominated by ________.
A) coralline algae
B) green algae
C) kelp
D) Thalassia
E) Zostera
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.1 What Communities Exist Along Rocky Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.1 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along rocky shores
9) Which of the following marine habitats has the lowest species diversity?
A) Coral reefs
B) Mangrove swamps
C) Mud flats
D) rocky shores
E) Kelp forests
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.2 What Communities Exist Along Sediment-Covered Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.2 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along sediment-
covered shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
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10) The most successful adaptation for living on a sediment-covered shore is ________.
A) attachment to the substrate
B) burrowing into the sediment
C) flattened body shape
D) sessile lifestyle
E) swimming
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.2 What Communities Exist Along Sediment-Covered Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.2 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along sediment-
covered shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
11) The depth to which a bivalve can bury itself depends on the ________.
A) composition of the sediment
B) length of its siphon
C) oxygen content of the sediment
D) turbidity of the surface water
E) wave frequency and water velocity
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.2 What Communities Exist Along Sediment-Covered Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.2 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along sediment-
covered shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
12) The common annelid found in a sandy beach environment is the ________.
A) clam
B) fan worm
C) feather duster worm
D) ghost crab
E) lugworm
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.2 What Communities Exist Along Sediment-Covered Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.2 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along sediment-
covered shores
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13) Organisms that live in the spaces between sediment particles are called ________.
A) epifauna
B) microfauna
C) meiofauna
D) mesofauna
E) subfauna
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.2 What Communities Exist Along Sediment-Covered Shores?
Essent’l Concept: 15.2 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist along sediment-
covered shores
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
14) Which of the following factors does not limit coral growth?
A) High concentrations of calcium carbonate in the water
B) High sediment load in the water
C) Low light
D) Low nutrient levels in the water
E) Water temperatures below 18°C
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.3 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the shallow
offshore ocean floor
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
15) Sewage discharge and fertilizer runoff is detrimental to coral growth because it increases the
________.
A) amount of inorganic nutrients in the water that stimulates excessive algal growth
B) amount of toxic synthetic chemicals which stimulate excessive bacterial growth
C) salinity of the water that results in coral bleaching
D) water temperature that kills zooxanthellae
E) water temperature that results in coral bleaching
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.3 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the shallow
offshore ocean floor
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16) Zooxanthellae are autotrophic marine protists that are found in the living tissues of some
simple marine invertebrates such as corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish. Zooxanthellae are
________.
A) bacteria
B) golden algae
C) dinoflagellates
D) protozoans
E) foraminifera
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.3 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the shallow
offshore ocean floor
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
17) The relationship between the protistan zooxanthellae and the polyps of reef-building corals is
best described as a/an ________.
A) facultative ectoparasitism
B) facultative commensalism
C) obligate endoparasitism
D) mutualistic symbiosis
E) obligate commensalism
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.3 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the shallow
offshore ocean floor
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
18) Which of the following is a threat to coral reef survival?
A) Boat collisions
B) Fishing
C) Scuba and snorkeling
D) Suspended sediment
E) Boating, fishing, scuba, snorkeling and suspended sediment might contribute to the decline of
a coral community.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.3 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the shallow
offshore ocean floor
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
9
19) The loss of color (coral bleaching) in coral reef organisms can be a result of ________.
A) crown-of-thorn sea stars
B) fungal parasites
C) increased sediment loads
D) increase in zooxanthellae concentrations
E) loss of zooxanthellae
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.3 What Communities Exist on the Shallow Offshore Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.3 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the shallow
offshore ocean floor
20) Primary producers in hydrothermal vent communities are ________.
A) algae
B) eyeless shrimp
C) giant clams
D) Riftia tubeworms
E) sulfur-oxidizing archaea
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.4 What Communities Exist on the Deep-Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.4 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the deep-ocean
floor
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
21) The three varieties of seeps on the seafloor include hypersaline, hydrocarbon, and ________.
A) abyssal plain seeps
B) deep-sea trench seeps
C) mid-ocean ridge seeps
D) seamount seeps
E) subduction zone seeps
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 15.4 What Communities Exist on the Deep-Ocean Floor?
Essent’l Concept: 15.4 Specify characteristics of the communities that exist on the deep-ocean
floor
OSLP: 5 The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.
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