Animals

The Caribbean is a beautiful biome with many unique animals some of which are not found anywhere else on earth. The marine life attracts many people to the Caribbean, specifically, the whale and dolphin population is a huge reason that the Caribbean is frequented so often by tourists. Dominica has been named the whale-watching capital of the Caribbean, along the coast of this island, Sperm Whales are seen year round, Humpback Whales are seen during the winter and even Oceanic Dolphins have been known to frequent the area. The Caribbean is also home to many smaller organisms such as the Vase Sponge, which is a large bell shaped sea sponge, the Spotted Moray Eel, which is a large predatory eel with extremely sharp teeth, and the Queen Angelfish, which is said to be the most beautiful of the angelfish species. Many amazing Caribbean animals are also found on land, Trinidad is heavily populated with flying animals, including bats, toucans and a rare bird known as the Oilbird, which is unique to northern South America. Whereas Puerto Rico is the home of the Puerto Rican Boa, and the Coqui Frog.

The Queen Angelfish is a reef fish that is known for its bright colours and quick reproduction rate. Queen Angelfish have been found to have long term monogamous bonds and females can release up to 10 million eggs per spawning period. Their diet consists mostly of sea sponges and jellyfish, however they have been known to occasionally eat coral, plankton and algae as well.

 

The Oilbird is a fairly large bird with a wingspan of around 95 centimeters. They are nocturnal birds which lay 2-4 eggs in their nests, which are made from piles of droppings. They have adapted vision to assist in hunting during the night, however they are also the only known birds that communicate through echolocation.

 

A Vase Sponge is a sea sponge that has a vase-like shape. They are typically brightly coloured and shaped like a tube, which is thinner at the base and wider towards the top. Vase Sponges feed on plankton and detritus.

 

Predator/Prey Relationship

In this graph, like most others you can clearly see the rise and crash of a predator and prey relationship. In this case the predators are the Lionfish and the prey are small fish that are native to the Atlantic Ocean. This predator and prey relationship has been occurring since the early 1980’s, when the Lionfish species were first introduced to the Caribbean. Lionfish began to heavily populate the area, they are a ruthless species that reproduce very quickly. Their rapidly growing population required lots of food to keep it going, this role landed on the smaller fish native to the Caribbean area. As the predator population rose the prey population crashed, because of this crash the predators no longer had anything to eat and they also began to crash. As the number of predators decreased, more of the prey were able to survive and their numbers once again started to grow. As the prey numbers grew more food was available for the predators and their population also began to grow. The predator and prey relationship between Lionfish and Atlantic fish is an endless cycle, which can be shown in the graph below.

 

Adaptations

Adaptations occur when an organism is predisposed to change to better suit their environment. There are three different types of adaptations that occur, structural adaptations, physiological adaptations and behavioural adaptations. The adaptations of a toucan in the Caribbean can include, its bill and the colour of its feathers. The bill of a toucan is huge, and is often thought to be a useful tool to fight off predators. However, because the bone that the bill is extremely lightweight, it is typically used as a feeding tool instead. The bill is used as an extension of mouth in order to reach pieces of food that were previously too far to reach. The next is the colour of the toucan’s feathers. Although a toucans feathers are very bright, they do provide excellent camouflage in a tropical forest, because of the lighting and other colours in this environment. Both of these structural adaptations occurred to help the toucan survive and thrive in its environment.

Another example of an adaptation is seen in Humpback Whales. While Humpback Whales do spend their entire lives in the water, they do not have the ability to filter out the oxygen from water like fish do, so they must come to the surface to breath. Humpback whales have made a physiological adaptation to be able to store oxygen in hemoglobin molecules, and myoglobin molecules as well as their lungs. This adaptation has given them the freedom to spend a longer amount of time under water if it is needed, instead of resurfacing every 5-10 minutes like they typically would.

 

 

Invasive Species

A large part of the attraction of the Caribbean is the wildly diverse plant and animal life. However, when invasive species are introduced it can upset the natural balance of this biome, for example, Lionfish are becoming an issue in Belize. A few Lionfish were first spotted off the coast of Florida in 1985, quite far away from their native indo-pacific region. From 1985 to 2008 they have migrated through several countries including, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Cuba, Turks and Caicos and finally Belize. Since then, the Lionfish have begun to populate more of the Caribbean and even sections of South America. While lionfish are beautiful to look at, they are presenting a major problem to the rest of the fish that inhabit the Caribbean. Not only do they reproduce very quickly, but they also live up to 15 years old and become sexually mature in their first year. There are also no known predators for the Lionfish in this area. As of 2012, 56 species have been identified as prey to Lionfish, because of the growing population of this invasive species, and their efficient predatory nature it can do damage to the coral reefs where they have settled. Another example is the Armoured Catfish, which has already done damage in many Florida lakes, it has since traveled to Belize where it is once again causing trouble. This particular fish is built very sturdily, with thick skin and strong muscles it is able to burrow deep into the banks of beaches on the coast. By doing this it damages the integrity of the coastline and upsets the natural environment, as well as other organisms that might have settled there.

 

Food Chain/Web

 

Original species

The original species we have created is similar to a Humpback Whale, however is has several adaptations to improve the way it functions. Firstly the feature that gives the Humpback Whale its name would be removed, without the humps along its back, the whale would have less resistance as it swims in the water, thus allowing it to move faster. It will also adapt to have less blubber. All whales have a layer of blubber that protect and insulate them from the cold, however whales that live in the Caribbean have do not have to deal with harsh winter weather and thus will need less blubber. Another adaptation that this whale will have is its colouring. Normally a humpback whale is dark on the top part of its body and lighter on the underside. This will change and it will adapt to have a dark colouring on all surfaces of its body, this adaptation will help with camouflage no matter where the animal swims. The last difference that it has is it will breed more often, this will ensure that this animal will have less potential to go extinct. The niche of this animal is very similar to the humpback whale, it acts as a caretaker for the ocean. When whales eat food they take in large gulps of water and filter it, to get the food that they intend to eat, and to help keep the ecosystem healthy.