Living in the Dark

Essay # 45474

Biology > Ecology
Biology > Zoology

Living in the Dark

A look at the ways in which animals have evolved and developed to survive in areas where there is no light.

1,129 words () | 8 sources | MLA | 2003 United Kingdom

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how a vast number of animals live in environments where there is no light, from the completely unlit and seemingly lifeless deep ocean, to the complete darkness of life inside another creature. It analyzes how to hunt or search for food, to find a mate or to avoid predators can all be extremely difficult activities and how animals have developed unique ways of dealing with the problems they face living in these environments. It focuses on three main types of animal that live in complete darkness: those that live in the deep ocean, troglobites (animals that live their whole lives in complete darkness in caves) and nocturnal animals and gives specific examples of each. It also touches on ectoparasites as these can also live out their complete life cycle and inside another being which is completely dark.

From the Paper:

"In the ocean depths, below 150m there is no light at all. Photosynthesis is impossible and therefore there are no plants, only animals. From this depth down to a maximum of 4000m, the water is completely dark and very clear as there is very little organic matter. At very large depths, large fish are rare as there is simply not enough food to sustain them. In order to find food animals have evolved extendable stomachs and an enormous gape to catch prey even larger than themselves as it is so scarce or masses of movement sensitive hairs to sense even the slightest movement in the water. Bioluminescence is used by many species in the deep for different reasons."