Table of Contents:

Basics:

        ~What Makes an Animal a Sea Animal?

        ~Nektonic Animals

        ~Planktonic Animals

        ~Benthic Animals

The Time of the Dinosaurs

Elasmosaurus

Plesiosaurs

Nothosaurs

Mosasaurs

Spinosaurus

Ceratosaurus

Ichthyosaur

Pliosaurus funkei

Kronosaurus

Mysteries Uncovered

Introduction

Do you think the sea animals are boring when you are near the sea? Not quite as you think! In fact, they can be fun! You will now go on journeys through the deep ocean and uncover the mysteries of the fathomless, mysterious ocean.

Basics

Most people probably think they know what a sea animal is. They would probably tell you that they can't really define what a sea animal is, but they would know one when they see one, like a whale or dolphin.

But what about starfish? Or sea anemones? Or microscopic krill? A sea animal is any type of animal that lives in a body of saltwater (like a sea or ocean), so starfish and krill are just as much sea animals as a whale is.

All sea or ocean-dwelling animals can be further classified based on how they move and where they live.

Sea creatures that are able to swim freely under their own power are classified as nekton. The nekton group of animals includes some of the most classic examples of sea life, including whales, dolphins, and fish.

Unlike other types of sea animals that can only live on the ocean floor or drift in the ocean currents, nektonic animals can move around wherever they want to because they are able to swim.

This usually means that they are larger and more biologically complex organisms than those that can't swim, because it requires complex body systems to be able to swim and regulate body position in the water.

In addition to whales, dolphins, and fish, squids and cuttlefish are also examples of nekton.

                                                                    This clownfish is an example of nekton, while                                                                     the leather coral is an example of a benthic                                                                         animal. 

Planktonic Animals

Plankton are nearly the opposite of nekton in almost every way. Plankton are animals that live in the water column of the oceans but are unable to regulate their position in the water on their own.