Description: the phytoplankton is looks round with many oval shaped pieces stuck to it. In the middle of each oval there is one smaller oval The phytoplankton is a light grey color.
Food Source: They get there food from photosynthesis.
Habitat: Phytoplankton live in oceans, seas, and lakes. They live at the top of the column.
Migration: Yes, since the phytoplankton live on the top of the ocean the predators can see them so they have to move down in the ocean where there is less light.
Niche: Photosynthesis by phytoplankton acounts for half of global primary production. It’s also zooplankton’s main food source.
Competition/Cooperation: They compete with zooxanthellae becuase they use coral polyps which means less resources for the phytoplankton. 
Challenges: Rising sea Surface temperatures are causing the population of phytoplankton to decrease.
Symbiotic relationship: The zooxathellae has to got through the process of photosynthesis to get it's food.
Importance: Phytoplankton is a food source for small fish, other plankton, and bigger animals like whales. Phytoplankton is also a big part in the carbon cycle.
Interesting Facts: What I thought was really interesting was that there are over a thousand different types of phytoplankton species.

Critter's common name: Grass shrimp

Scientific name: Palaemonetes pugio

Description: The grass shrimp has a segmented, transparent gray body with multi-colored spots on its back that's compressed on either side. It has a pointed, jagged rostrum  over its eyes. It has three pairs of legs and can grow up to 1.5 inches long and 1/4 inch wide.

Food source: Grass shrimp  feed on worms, algae, bay-grasses and small crustaceans (crustaceans are primary consumers in an aquatic ecosystem).

Habitat: Grass shrimp inhabit both deep and shallow waters, and grass beds and oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay.

Migration: The grass shrimp migrates to deeper water to avoid both high and low temperature conditions.  

Niche: Grass shrimp are omnivores that like to eat aquatic plants and other small crustaceans and are eaten by many other small fish such as sunfish and killifish. They tend to live in deeper waters. 

Competition/Cooperation with other organisms: Grass shrimp compete with American prawn; American prawn move grass shrimp from their habitats (oyster reefs).

Challenges: grass shrimp are eaten by killifish, sunfish, and other small fishes.

Symbiotic relationships: parasitism; grass shrimp are hosts for a number of parasites, including coccidians, microsporidians, trematodes, isopods, and leeches, but the parasites aren’t able to cause serious damage. (Grass shrimp aren’t consumed by humans, so they’re not in danger of over harvesting. They’re not an endangered species, in fact they’re one of the most abundant species in the Bay.) 

Importance of grass shrimp to the Bay’s ecosystem: Grass shrimp are consumed by killifishes and other fishes that are important prey for larger fishes. They’re also important conduit in the transfer of energy from the producer and decomposer levels up to the higher consumer levels of the food chain/pyramid.

Other interesting information: 1) female grass shrimp are more dominant than the males, 2) grass shrimp are also decomposers (detritivores) because they aid in the breakdown of seagrasses. 3) grass shrimp can camoflage themselves to hide from predators.

 

  
 

Critter Name:  Atlant
Scientific Name: Brevoortia tyrannus
Description:  The Atlantic menhaden has a bluish green or brown body. It grows to 14 to 18 inches in length. Its sides, fins and belly are silvery. A black, round spot on its side is followed by smaller spots arranged in rows.
Food source : It is a filter feeder. As it opens its mouth it filters out the plankton in the water
Habitat: It lives in the waters from Nova Scotia south to northern Florida.
 Migration: It visits the Chesapeake Bay from Spring to Fall.
Niche: Help people fertilize their crops.
Competition/Cooperate:
Competes with blue fish, sharks, striped bass, mackerel, mammals, and fish-eating seabirds.
Challenges: A couple predators and lots of pollution such as oil spills factories. They are not over harvested thought because people cannot eat them due to their oily skin.
Symbiotic relationships: Parasitism with phytoplankton and zooplankton .
Importance: American Indians used this fish as fertilizer for their crops.
Interesting facts: The Natives called this fish the"Munnawhatteaug"which means fertilizer. They can only up tho 10-12 years.
 

Description:Brownish body and white tummy, round snout & triangular teeth,tall dorsal fin, Rudge of skin between back 2 dorsal fins
Food Source:Bony fish, smaller sharks, rays, crabs, gastropods, and shrimps.
Habitat: Their habitat ranges from Massachusetts to Brazil, favoring the coastal waters. They live 20-65 meters deep and sometimes venturing down to 1,800 meters.
Niche: Sandbar sharks are bottom feeders, which means that they feed at the bottom of the ocean.
Migration: Sandbar sharks migrate in the late fall from their nursing grounds to deeper waters until they return int he warmer months.

Competition/Cooperation: The sandbar sharks cooperate by staying in a pack to protect each other
Challenges: The sandbar shark is threatened by humans, and the tiger shark eats them. They are very vulnerable to over harvesting, and the young are easily killed.
Symbiotic relationships: The sandbar shark shares a symbiotic relationship with the remora fish, which attaches itself to the sandbar shark, cleaning it, and in return, the shark protects the remora fish.
Importance: Sandbar
Interesting Facts: Sandbar sharks don't attack humans, and they are the most common shark in the Chesapeake bay.

 

Critter's Common Name: Under Water Grasses

Scientific Name:submerged aquatic vegetation or SAV.

Description: Long green strands of submerged grass or kelp and seaweed and grow in groups not by them self

Food Source: No our plant (Underwater grasses) doesn't migrate. Our plant can live in cold temperatures, but in hot temperatures underwater grasses can die off in large scales that will take up to 7 years to go back to it's normal state

Habitat: Chesapeake Bay

Niche: Shelters young fish and crabs (blue crabs) and filters out sediment 

Competition/Cooperation: Underwater grasses compete/Cooperate with  Microscopic zooplankton, they feed on decaying underwater grasses ridding the grass of waste in return they become food.

Challenges: 

Extreme weather, Including high temperatures or excess rainfall. It’s growth is  delayed by pollution.Too much sediment can block sunlight for the plants to grow

Symbiotic relationships: Underwater grasses has a Symbiotic relationship called commercialism, they provide food and shelter to numbers of wildlife
 
Importance: 

Underwater grasses help keep the water clean and healthy by 

-absorbing nitrogen and phosphorus

-traps sediment that would cloud waters and suffocate shellfish 

-slowing the water's current which reduces erosion

 

 

Interesting Facts: Underwater grasses offer food to small invertebrates and migratory waterfowl. Most species of Underwater grasses can go up to 4 ft.

Critter's Common Name: Osprey
Scientific Name: Pandion Haliaetus

Description: brown above with white below most of the Osprey’s feathers being white, 1 pair of eyes ranging from different colors, talons each of the osprey’s legs, ,segmented body, usually around 7.5 cm.
Food Source: Fish from the Chesapeake and near by rivers. If there aren't any near by fish they eat small mammals, birds, and reptiles.
Habitat: Worldwide wherever there are rivers, bays, lakes or seacoasts
Migration: The Osprey migrates to South America during fall and winter to breed and they return to America in the spring.
Niche: The role of an osprey is that they indicate good health and abundance of fish stocks when they hunt.
Competition: The Osprey competes with near by Eagles for food in the Chesapeake
Challenges: A challenge an osprey faces is it's predators which are Owls, Eagles, Fox, Raccoon, and Skunk. Another challenge is competitors such as fishing Eagles worldwide.
Symbiotic relationships: Parasitism-Osprey-Fish- the Osprey gets food from the fish and the fish is harmed
Importance: Ospreys are carnivores so if they were to go extinct the Owls, Eagles, Raccoons, Foxes, and Skunks would lose a source of food. Since 99% of the Ospreys diet is fish the fish Ospreys eat might overpopulate.
Interesting Facts:  Ospreys live from 15-20 years 

Critter's Common Name: American Shad
Scientific Name: Alosa Sapidissima
Description: Metallic body, Silver, Multiple fins, 2 eyes, many scales, 40-76cm
Food Source: they eat small shrimp, fish eggs,plankton,and occasionally small fish
Habitat: Spends most of life in the Atlantic Ocean but goes to coastal rivers,bays, and tributary to spawn
Migration: *
Niche: food for other animals and preys on small shrimp, fish eggs,plankton,and occasionally small fish
Competition/Cooperation: *
Challenges: Predators-bears, birds, fairly big fish like striped bass, small mouth bass, channel catfish, and blue fish, and humans
Over Harvesting- People fish American Shad too much and in some states they are protected

10*Symbiotic relationship: Commensalism. The American shad lays its eggs inside a mussel's mouth and the mussel protects the eggs but gets nothing in return.
12*Interesting Facts: