In the rich shallow coastal waters, many large algae grow. They use rhizomes to anchor the algae to rocks or other hard substrates on the seafloor. The so-called rhizoids look like roots, but do not have the function of true roots, such as absorbing water and nutrients, and only play an attachment role. Large algae contain air sacs that allow their leaves to extend vertically from the seafloor to the water surface. The dense clumps of algae resemble an underwater forest or a resilient, flexible wall, often protecting the coast. Strong jetties and breakwaters are sometimes inevitably destroyed by strong winds and waves, but algae can rise or fall flat, curved or straight as waves advance and recede. As the saying goes, gentleness can overcome harshness, and this kind of change can overcome harshness. The enemy.The violent momentum of the waves caused them to collapse under this soft wall, gradually becoming smaller and calmer, thus protecting the seawall of thousands of kilometers and the pier of 10,000 tons. After the tide goes out, large clumps of algae are often exposed out of the water, and you have to endure the dry heat in summer and cold wind in winter for a short time. But it didn't seem to cause any obvious harm to them. After being submerged by seawater at high tide, they regained their vitality. Places with thick algae are also the places with the richest marine life. They not only provide abundant food sources for herbivores, but also provide habitats, shelter, and excellent environments for many animals to thrive.
Benthic algae also photosynthesize under sunlight. Light is quickly absorbedeated by sea water after entering the water. The depth of penetration into the water layer is linked to the length of the light wave. The spectrum of sunlight is made up of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Red light has the longest wavelength and becomes progressively shorter from red to violet. The wavelength of light is short and has high permeability, and can reach a depth of more than 200 meters; the wavelength of light and energy are small and can only penetrate a few meters or tens of meters deep. Various algae contain pigments other than chlorophyll. They absorb light energy from various parts of the spectrum and transfer it to chlorophyll. Green algae mainly absorb red light, and red light is quickly absorbed by seawater when it enters the water. Therefore, green algae are not distributeds only in the water layer 5 to 6 meters deep, which makes the upper water layer appear green. Orange light and yellow light penetrate slightly deeper into the water layer and are mainly used by brown algae. This is why waters 30 to 60 meters deep are often home to brown algae. The water is almost dyed brown. The world of red algae generally goes further, as they mainly absorb green and blue light, which have shorter wavelengths and penetrate deeper into the water layer. Although benthic algal individuals are large, their range is small and their total numbers are relatively small, so their annual photosynthetic productivity is only 2–5% of that of marine phytoplankton.
Yes. According to the British magazine New Scientist, sunlight brings light to the earth and humans pcan use it as energy. In magical nature, plants use sunlight to carry out photosynthesis and maintain growth, but people may not know that some mysterious animals can "eat". the sun”!
Green leaf sea snail
This creature that looks like a green leaf from a distance is a green leaf sea snail (Elysia chlorotica) which it can eat . his Obtain chloroplasts from algae. These chloroplasts are stored in its internal cells, giving its body a unique green color. While other species of sea snails must replace their chloroplasts every few days or weeks, green leaf sea snails can keep their chloroplasts in their bodies for up to several months. Once the number of chloroplasts in an adult reaches saturation, it can survive without food for up to 10 months, relying entirelyerly on photosynthesis. The ability to photosynthesize evolved separately in some nudibranchs, and many subspecies have established symbiotic relationships with some Symbiodinium algae. These animals typically obtain the chloroplasts they need from the symbiotic algae they eat and the corals and sea anemones they eat.
Acoel Flatworms
These brown discs are Acoel flatworms that live on white coral, and their brown color comes from their symbiotic algae present in the cells of the body. Many other flatworms also undergo photosynthesis. For example, the bright green Symsagittifera roscoffensis has an algae called Tetraselmis convolutae living in its body. Flatworms can be found in large numbers along the Atlantic coast of Britain and France, although they can easily be mistaken for algae. Other species ofRusty brown flatworms, such as "Convolutrilobaretrogemma", are common pests in marine aquariums, almost to the point of becoming the plague.
Spotted Salamander
People have long known that eggs laid by some amphibians have a gelatinous inclusion on the outside. It is a harmonious symbiosis: the algae consume the waste produced by the egg and provide it with oxygen. And now, research has discovered that the cells inside the embryos of a spotted salamander called Ambystoma maculata are actually parasitized by a single-celled algae called "Oophila?" amblystomatis. The algae appears to provide food for its host cells. If the discovery is confirmed, this would be the only known case of algal symbiosis within a vertebrate cell.
Turning over jellyfish
There are many species of upside down jellyfish that live around the world. The reason they wearnt such an interesting name is that they have an interesting life habit, which involves floating upside down in shallow seas or mangroves. They don't do this for fun, but to maximize the amount of sunlight reaching the algae that live in their tentacles. Some jellyfish that live in lagoons, such as the pearl jellyfish (Mastigias papua), also harbor algae in their cells. In the famous jellyfish lake on the Pacific island of Palau, large numbers of golden jellyfish, which are a subspecies of the pearl jellyfish, are found.
Green hydra
This small animal lives in the most common small ponds around us. Green hydra is very common in rural rivers and ponds. Their bodiesThe reason they appear green is due to the single-celled green algae that live in their bodies. Chlorella that lives inside green polyps cannot survive independently in the nnature. They have completely adapted to the parasitic life of the host, and even the division cycle of their reproduction is exactly the same as that of the host cells. When the hydra reproduces sexually, these algae are passed to the next generation of hydra through the eggs.
Sail jellyfish
It is a close relative of jellyfish: the sail jellyfish. As its name suggests, it can "turn its rudder with the wind", using the force of the wind to float and swim on the surface of the sea, and use its drooping tentacles to capture prey. Each sail jellyfish is a large community of countless small parasitic algae living within its body.
Wind anemone
Many parts of sea anemone are capable of photosynthesis. The Snakelocks anemone lives in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, extending from the Mediterranean Sea north to waters near the United Kingdom. Parasitic algae are also ppresent in its tentacles. Another anemone harbors a different parasite: The aggressive ornate anemone, a species of anemone common along the Pacific coast of North America, may contain an algae called zoochlorella instead of the symbiotic algae that are usually common, or two types of algae coexist in their bodies.
Giant clams
There are many species of giant clams around the world that rely primarily on photosynthesis, including this Tridacna maxima. As soon as daylight arrives, these giant clams open their shells to let in as much sunlight as possible. It contains symbiotic algae in its body. In fact, giant clams aren't the only crustaceans capable of photosynthesis. Some smaller bivalves also have parasitic algae in their bodies.
Giant Barrel Sponge
The Giant Barrel Sponge will be familiar to those who have dived inCaribbean. Its cells contain cyanobacteria. Sponges can also lose these parasites and become “bleached,” much like corals. Periodic bleaching is a normal physiological phenomenon for certain sponge species. In fact, these sponges are colonized by many more organisms, including non-photosynthetic fungi and bacteria, and of course photosynthetic algae. Some sponges have a siliceous skeleton, and at least one is known to have an optical fiber-like skeletal system that conducts light to cells located deep in the body and protected from sunlight.
Lionfish
Lionfish, also known as lionfish, have a body structure and life habits extremely suited to photosynthesis . Its large elongated fins maximize the area of light and it spends all day bathing in shallow waterand sunny, motionless in the water or floating slowly.