Chost Crabs Design
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- Why are microalgae important
- Fish habitat
- Phylum Class Common Name
- Other marine microalgae, including
- Yellow mangrove
- Flowering and fruiting
- Salt tolerance
Chost Crabs Design The Creator has given this crab an exceptional ability that helps it survive during the winter. The ghost crab stores oxygen in air sacs near its gills. During its winter hibernation, it uses this stored oxygen while it remains buried in the sand. Features The ghost crab is aptly named. It is a pale, sandy color, making it almost invisible on the sand. Its black eyes are held aloft on stalks. Like all true crabs, the ghost crab has five pairs of legs, the first of which is a pair of claws (called chelipeds), one of which is larger than the other. Fun Facts The ghost crab is sometimes called the sand crab. These crabs tunnel up to four feet into the sand at a 45° angle, creating 1 to 2 inch-wide holes, which speckle the beach. The ghost crab can move at speeds up to 10 miles per hour (4.5 m/s), while making sharp directional changes. This creatures uses its sharp 360-degree vision to see flying insects and catch them in mid air. The ghost crab has the ability to “deposit feed”—it passes sand through its mouthparts Why are microalgae important? Marine plants, including mangroves, seagrass, samphires, saltcouch and saltmarsh plants, algae and other plants growing adjacent to the tidal zone, are specifically protected under the Queensland Fisheries Act 1994. The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) recognises that this broad definition includes a diverse group of microalgae found within sediments of fish habitats such as mudflats, sandflats, salt marshes, tidal marshes and estuaries. Microalgae are extremely important for primary production within intertidal habitats and constitute a major food source for higher trophic levels. A number of activities such as dredging and extractive industries may impact on fish habitats and microalgae populations and the impacts could lead to reduced local and regional fisheries production. Although algae are included in the definition of marine plants, there are practical difficulties in their identification and estimates of abundance. Where there is readily available evidence of algae, DPI&F will be a concurrence agency and exercise its ability to require an approval for disturbance of these (Couchman and Beumer 2007). The results of a literature review (undertaken in 2002) on the available information on the importance of microalgae in primary production within intertidal fish habitats is summarised below.
“Microalgae are unicellular microscopic algae called phytoplankton (‘phyto’= plant; ‘planktos’= made to wander). These small plants range in size form 1/1000 of a mm to 2mm floating in the upper 200m of the ocean where sunlight is available for photosynthesis. Phytoplankton species range from primitive blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) to diatoms, dinoflagellates and green flagellates” Hallegraef (1991).
and extracts the nutrients from the algae in the sand. SUBPHYLUM: Crustacea CLASS: Malacostraca (woodlice, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, etc.) ORDER: Decapoda (crabs, shrimp, and relatives) FAMILY: Ocypodidae (ghost crabs and fiddler crabs) GENUS: Ocypode (20 species) Size: About 2 in (5 cm) Diet: Small crabs, clams, turtle hatchlings, organic matter Habitat: Exposed beaches from the tropical and subtropical coasts, including the American Atlantic, through the Mediterranean and Red Sea, to the American Pacific and Indo-Pacific region Yellow mangrove 
Yellow mangroves are so called because of their yellow-green leaves. Ceriops tagal var. australis (yellow mangrove) is a member of the Rhizophoraceae family. It is found throughout the Indo-Pacific region and distributed across northern Australia, extending south to the Tweed River on the east coast and to Broome in Western Australia. This species is commonly found on firm, peaty, well drained clays, clayey mud or sand clays at the upper tidal limit of the mangrove shore. Here, infrequent tidal inundation aids in accumulating leaves and twigs, which decompose to form peat. Yellow mangrove also grows in soils that are poorly drained and frequently inundated by the tides, where it forms low, open shrub lands.
This species can grow from a shrub of 0.5-1 m to a small slender tree of 2-7 m. The bark is yellowish or light brown to grey, and is roughened by corky lenticels (air pores) along the trunk. The base of the tree is buttressed (a distinguishing feature) and leaves are yellow-green with dark green in shaded areas. Leaves grow to 7 cm long and 4 cm wide, are oval-shaped with a notched tip and are slightly curled under at the edges. They are arranged opposite one another in groups at the ends of branchlets. Flowers are white and about 6 mm long, and appear in pairs at the base of the leaves. 
Buttressed trunks are a distinguishing feature of the yellow mangrove. Flowering and fruiting Flowering occurs between September and December. Flowers open in the late afternoon and are pollinated by night-flying insects, such as moths. Brown, pear-shaped fruit that is 10 to 12 mm long appear between December and January. A smooth, tapered, cylindrical propagule of 10 to 15 cm protrudes through the fruit wall and is suspended vertically beneath the fruit. This propagule often takes on a reddish colour as it matures until it is shed into the water with the fruit.
This species excludes salts through its roots as water is taken up. Uses Directory: Supportandresources -> Formsanddocuments -> Documents Documents -> State school Formsanddocuments -> 16 annual report queensland State School Reporting Download 0.69 Mb. Share with your friends:
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