Habitat: sandy/muddy areas (bays, estuaries, & sloughs)

Food Web: Predator: small fish, snails, worms, shrimp, crabs, etc.

Structure/Function: triangle shaped fins allow them to swim and hunt food by exposing prey by the removal of sand. Also uses its venomous spine.

We chose this organism because I find their specific shape intriguing, and also they look like they're smiling.

Habitat: tropical reefs & shallow water

Food Web: Predator: consumes stingrays, reef fish, crabs, mantis shrimp, sea snakes etc.

Structure/Function: maximum of 55 teeth, used to attack prey, one dorsal fin is larger than the other

We chose this organism because it seemed different, I had never seen a shark with a unique splash of black.

Habitat: open waters

Food Web: Prey: get eaten by turtles, fishes, and birds. They consume other jellies

Structure/Function: Captures other jellies with its tentacles. Drifts and pulses in the ocean. Tentacles have a mild sting. 

We chose this organism because of its appearance and gracefulness. It seems interesting for the fact that its name describes its appearance.

Ecosystem: Live in all the world's oceans. Live in tropical areas or on the sea floor. Sea Stars only live in salt water.

Role In Food Web: Sea Stars for the most part eat any living organisms they can find including coral or even clams. The Starfish will eat both plants and animals. Sea Stars are also considered prey, some organisms that will eat Sea Stars include Crabs or Predatory Fish. Interestingly enough the Sea Star feeds on marine organisms that also feed on them. Due to the fact that Sea Stars are Omnivores they are not assigned a specific trophic level.

Anatomical Adaptation: A Sea Star has a central base that is surrounded by arms. They can have any amount of arms, from five to forty. The mouth of the Sea Star is found on its underbelly. Sea Stars can eat prey that is bigger than them by squeezing their stomach out of their mouth.

We chose this organism as our favorite one because we thought it was a very interesting creature. We did not know that Starfish were capable of eating with their stomachs outside of their mouths in order to eat larger organisms.

Habitat: the open ocean is the wintered habitat for these north pacific diving birds. During breeding season they search for cliffs and coastal islands. The youngsters spend 1-2 years at sea before they come to land to shed. Nests in colonies with other auks.

Food web: feeds from diving for fish. They'll return with capelin fish, sand lance, herring, and lanternfish. They also eat squid and crustaceans. 

Structures/functions:Medium sized, stout body with short wings and feet far back on the body. Large parrot like beak that’s yellow-orangish with the tip red helps to kill, capture, and hold its prey. Able to catch more than one fish due to the spines on its tongue. Their short wings help them swim underwater to search for prey and their bones are strong to handle the pressure underwater.

Habitat: they go from one place to another due to its wide dispersion. They live in a variety of habitats like sandy, rock and boulder-strewn beaches and a big range of climatic temperatures. They prefer beaches and sand bars that are bare at low tides.

Food web: Opportunistic feeders, spend 85% of the day diving for prey. They eat herring, various species of flatfish, surfperch, rockfish, salmon and hake. Also they eat some invertebrates including cephalopods, mollusks, and crustaceans.

Structures/Functions: Their thick layer of blubber helps in temperature control. Its spindled shaped body helps move through the water and the development of flippers makes it efficient for velocity. They have sharp black and white vision that is better in water than in air. Their whiskers are sensitive to vibration and water motion which comes in handy when hunting for food or if they are in some kind of danger. They have a material called myoglobin in their muscle tissues that supply with large amount of oxygen which helps them in deep dives.

We chose this organism because we were fond of it and how they look graceful while swimming.

Habitat: shallow sheltered bays and harbors, mainly on reef flats with sandy bottoms and sea grass beds. These species inhabit in shallow habitats, such as coral reefs in clear waters or in sandy patches collaborating with anemones. Its rare to find them in open areas of sand and rubble.

Food web: They have diurnal trophic habits, its feeding activity decreases during the day and stops by the time the sun is setting. They're mostly a carnivore. Normally eat copepods, but also eat plankton or smaller crustaceans.

Structure/Function: small tropical fish. Silver body with vertical black stripes. Covered with small white spots. It has 8 dorsal spines, 14 dorsal soft rays, 2 anal spines, and 13 anal soft rays. The dots on each individual fish have a unique tone.

We chose this organism because of the physique; its different in a way that it has many spots and fins it just grabbed our attention.