Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: How many species of kelp are there?
Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera.
"Seaweed" is a colloquial term and lacks a formal definition. A seaweed may belong to one of several groups of multicellular algae: the red algae, green algae, and brown algae. As these three groups do not have a common multicellular ancestor, the seaweed are in a polyphyletic group. In addition, some tuft-forming bluegreen algae (Cyanobacteria) are sometimes considered to be seaweed.
Monterey Bay Aquarium displays 35,000 animals belonging to over 550 species in of water. Filtered seawater from Monterey Bay is pumped into the Kelp Forest and other exhibits at per minute. At night, unfiltered seawater (or "raw seawater") is used for the Kelp Forest exhibit to maintain its realistic appearance. The use of unfiltered seawater allows animals to grow in the aquarium's plumbing so it must occasionally be cleaned with tools called pigs, which blast through the pipes under pressure to remove organisms and debris. Control systems that maintain this seawater system and other life support components for the animals are mostly automated, tracking various chemical parameters and reducing the likelihood for human error during repetitive tasks such as filter media backwashing. The seawater system is controlled by more than 10,000 data points.
Starfish are marine invertebrates. They typically have a central disc and five arms, though some species have a larger number of arms. The aboral or upper surface may be smooth, granular or spiny, and is covered with overlapping plates. Many species are brightly coloured in various shades of red or orange, while others are blue, grey or brown. Starfish have tube feet operated by a hydraulic system and a mouth at the centre of the oral or lower surface. They are opportunistic feeders and are mostly predators on benthic invertebrates. Several species have specialized feeding behaviours including eversion of their stomachs and suspension feeding. They have complex life cycles and can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Most can regenerate damaged parts or lost arms and they can shed arms as a means of defence. The Asteroidea occupy several significant ecological roles. Starfish, such as the ochre sea star ("Pisaster ochraceus") and the reef sea star ("Stichaster australis"), have become widely known as examples of the keystone species concept in ecology. The tropical crown-of-thorns starfish ("Acanthaster planci") is a voracious predator of coral throughout the Indo-Pacific region, and the northern Pacific sea star is considered to be one of the world's 100 worst invasive species.
Laverbread () is a food product, made from an edible seaweed (littoral alga), consumed mainly in Wales as part of local traditional cuisine. The seaweed is commonly found around the west coast of Great Britain and east coast of Ireland along the Irish Sea, where it is known as slake. It is smooth in texture and forms delicate, sheetlike thalli, often clinging to rocks. The principal variety is porphyra ("Porphyra umbilicalis"). Porphyra (laver seaweed) is classified as red algae; it tends to be a brownish colour, but boils down to a dark green pulp when prepared. Laver seaweed has a high content of dietary minerals, particularly iodine and iron. The high iodine content gives the seaweed a distinctive flavour in common with olives and oysters.
Some species of sea urchins, such as the slate pencil urchin ("Eucidaris tribuloides"), are commonly sold in aquarium stores. Some species are effective at controlling filamentous algae, and they make good additions to an invertebrate tank.
Although most jellyfish live well off the ocean floor and form part of the plankton, a few species are closely associated with the bottom for much of their lives and can be considered benthic. The upside-down jellyfish in the genus "Cassiopea" typically lie on the bottom of shallow lagoons where they sometimes pulsate gently with their umbrella top facing down. The tiny creeping jellyfish "Staurocladia" and "Eleutheria" cannot swim, and "walk" around on seaweed fronds or rocky bottoms on their tentacles. Most hydromedusae and scyphomedusae that live in coastal habitats find themselves on the bottom periodically, where they may stop swimming for a while, and certain box jellyfish species also rest on the sea bed in shallow water. Even some deep-sea species of hydromedusae and scyphomedusae are usually collected on or near the bottom. All of the stauromedusae are found attached to either seaweed or rocky or other firm material on the bottom.
Sea urchins or urchins () are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal to . Their tests (hard shells) are round and spiny, typically from across. Sea urchins move slowly, crawling with their tube feet, and sometimes pushing themselves with their spines. They feed primarily on algae but also eat slow-moving or sessile animals. Their predators include sea otters, starfish, wolf eels, and triggerfish.
Approximately 23 species of sea urchins, 3 species of heart urchins, and 9 species of sand dollars call the Gulf of California habitat their home. Where they are found throughout the Gulf of California, can be classified into three biogeographic regions called the Northern Gulf, Central Gulf, and Southern Gulf.
Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce food by photosynthesis and thus have traditionally been included in the plant kingdom. The seaweeds range from large multicellular algae to single-celled organisms and are classified into three groups, the brown, red and green algae. There is good evidence that the brown algae evolved independently from the others, from non-photosynthetic ancestors that formed endosymbiotic relationships with red algae rather than from cyanobacteria, and they are no longer classified as plants as defined here.
Bleaching events in benthic coral communities (deeper than ) in the Great Barrier reef are not as well documented as those at shallower depths, but recent research has shown that benthic communities are just as negatively impacted in the face of rising ocean temperatures. Five Great Barrier Reef species of large benthic corals were found bleached under elevated temperatures, affirming that benthic corals are vulnerable to thermal stress.
Although the notoriously dangerous species of box jellyfish are largely restricted to the tropical Indo-Pacific region, various species of box jellyfish can be found widely in tropical and subtropical oceans, including the Atlantic Ocean and the east Pacific Ocean, with species as far north as California ("Carybdea confusa"), the Mediterranean Sea ("Carybdea marsupialis") and Japan (such as "Chironex yamaguchii"), and as far south as South Africa (for example, "Carybdea branchi") and New Zealand (such as "Copula sivickisi").
Marine biota in the region have representatives of both the Indian and Pacific oceans which were caught in the Caribbean before the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama four million years ago. In the Caribbean Sea there are around 1,000 documented species of fish, including sharks (bull shark, tiger shark, silky shark and Caribbean reef shark), flying fish, giant oceanic manta ray, angel fish, spotfin butterflyfish, parrotfish, Atlantic Goliath grouper, tarpon and moray eels. Throughout the Caribbean there is industrial catching of lobster and sardines (off the coast of Yucatán Peninsula).
"Phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton - small animals which, like phytoplankton, drift in the ocean currents. The most abundant zooplankton species are copepods and krill: tiny crustaceans that are the most numerous animals on Earth. Other types of zooplankton include jelly fish and the larvae of fish, marine worms, starfish, and other marine organisms". In turn, the zooplankton are eaten by filter-feeding animals, including some seabirds, small forage fish like herrings and sardines, whale sharks, manta rays, and the largest animal in the world, the blue whale. Yet again, moving up the foodchain, the small forage fish are in turn eaten by larger predators, such as tuna, marlin, sharks, large squid, seabirds, dolphins, and toothed whales.
Atlantic herring ("Clupea harengus") is a herring in the family Clupeidae. It is one of the most abundant fish species in the world. Atlantic herrings can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, congregating in large schools. They can grow up to in length and weigh up to . They feed on copepods, krill and small fish, while their natural predators are seals, whales, cod and other larger fish.
The marine waters of the Houtman Abrolhos, an island chain off the coast of Western Australia, have been recorded as containing 194 species of coral in 50 genera. This is a surprisingly high coral diversity, considering the high latitude of the reef, and the relatively low diversity of other biota. This is a list of corals of the Houtman Abrolhos:
The marine waters of the Houtman Abrolhos, an island chain off the coast of Western Australia, are unusual in containing a mix of tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate fish species. This mix is largely due to the Leeuwin Current, which brings warm tropical water to the Houtman Abrolhos, especially in winter. Tropical species are the most abundant, eleven of the sixteen most abundant species being tropical fishes. However, there are also a large number of tropical species with populations so small that they are thought not to maintain populations be breeding at the Houtman Abrolhos.
The Houtman Abrolhos is unusual in having a luxuriant and diverse living coral reef at such a high latitude. 194 species in 50 genera have been recorded there, all but two of which are tropical. This is a surprisingly high coral diversity, considering the high latitude of the reef, and the relatively low diversity of other biota. For a full list, see list of corals of the Houtman Abrolhos.
The abundant sea harvest of the Indian Ocean around the Atolls of the Maldives and, Lakshadweep in India yields many pelagic fishes, like skipjack, yellowfin tuna, little tunny (known locally as laṭṭi) and frigate mackerel. All these fishes have been traditionally processed on the Maldive Islands as a main source of food as well as income for Maldivians.
Houtman Abrolhos has an extremely high diversity of echinoderms, with 172 species having been recorded there. 63% of these are tropical species, 14% are temperate, and 22% are endemic to Western Australia. None is endemic to the Houtman Abrolhos. Published surveys have not included observations of the crown-of-thorns starfish ("Ananthaster planci"), but individuals have occasionally been observed there. For a complete list of species, see list of echinoderms of the Houtman Abrolhos.
Streptocarpus with more than one leaf are called "plurifoliates", and there are two main types of these. First is the rosulate form, which is perennial. Rosulates are made up of a basal rosette of leaves. Flower stems sprout from the upper surfaces of the bases of these leaves. The most common Streptocarpus houseplant is of the rosulate type. The flowers of modern rosulate hybrids are generally three to several centimeters in diameter. The other plurifoliate type is essentially somewhere in between a rosulate and a unifoliate. In this group, two or three leaves grow in addition to the first leaf. The plurifoliates are perennial. Examples are Streptocarpus prolixus, and Streptocarpus polyanthus ssp polyanthus.
The Coelopidae or kelp flies are a family of Acalyptratae flies (order Diptera), they are sometimes also called seaweed flies, though both terms are used for a number of seashore Diptera. Fewer than 40 species occur worldwide. The family is found in temperate areas, with species occurring in the southern Afrotropical, Holarctic, and Australasian (which has the most species) regions.
Kelp may develop dense forests with high production, biodiversity and ecological function. Along the Norwegian coast these forests cover 5800 km, and they support large numbers of animals. Numerous sessile animals (sponges, bryozoans and ascidians) are found on kelp stipes and mobile invertebrate fauna are found in high densities on epiphytic algae on the kelp stipes and on kelp holdfasts. More than 100,000 mobile invertebrates per square meter are found on kelp stipes and holdfasts in well-developed kelp forests (Christie et al., 2003). While larger invertebrates and in particular sea urchins "Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis" (O.F. Müller) are important secondary consumers controlling large barren ground areas on the Norwegian coast, they are scarce inside dense kelp forests.
"Alaria" the second largest genus of Laminariales, with about 17 currently recognized species. However, due to its highly plastic morphology, the kelp has over 100 specific and subspecific names, which have arisen since it was first described in 1830. These synonyms have been tailored down to the present species through genetic comparisons.
Through the 19th century, the word "kelp" was closely associated with seaweeds that could be burned to obtain soda ash (primarily sodium carbonate). The seaweeds used included species from both the orders Laminariales and Fucales. The word "kelp" was also used directly to refer to these processed ashes.