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Aquatic Systems
 Oceanus in the Trevi Fountain, Rome Oceans from the Greek "okeanos" or Oceanus, the Titan son of the original Greek deities: Ouranos and Gaia. Oceanus was a personification of the river of world-ocean that surrounded the earth. His wife was Tethys, the mother of the Oceanids, the various bodies of water. Most famous of them, Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon, and Calypso, the lover of Odysseus. One of the children of Oceanus and Gaia was Styk, the spirit of the River Styk in the Underworld. Oceanic Mythology consists of Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian mythologies. The marine regions 
Oceans represent the largest and most diverse of the ecosystems. Salt water evaporates and turns to rain which falls on the land regions, while most of the oxygen in our atmosphere is generated by algae. Algae is also responsible for the absorption of large amounts of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.
The ocean connects to land via inter-tidal zones. In the warm shallow waters which line the continents and surrounding islands, lie barriers called coral reefs. Coral is a living organism consisting of animal and algae tissues. Corals feed like plants through the process of photosynthesis, and like animals, they also use their tentacles to catch micro-organisms. The coral reef is also host to other species such as starfish, octopi, and other mollusks. Open ocean is called the pelagic zone, which is host to many species of fish and marine mammals, plankton , and seaweed. The area underneath the pelagic zone is called the benthic zone, or deep-sea, and is host to silt, sand, and slowly decomposing organisms. This area is much colder due to its depth, which is untouched by sunlight. There are few plants at this level, and the animals include mostly bottom feeding organisms such as starfish, anemones, sponges, amongst others, as well as various micro-organisms. 
Until recently, all life on Earth was believed to be dependent on the sun. But in the last 30 years, several new deep-sea ecosystems have been discovered that utilize an alternative source of energy.
The deepest part of the ocean is called the abyssal zone. It is host to many species of invertebrates and fish including the coelacanth, a prehistoric fish once thought extinct, but recently found in the depths of the Indian Ocean. The abyssal zone is very cold, and highly pressurized. Its floor features Hydrothermal vents. 
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents form as a result of volcanic activity on the ocean floor. Water seeps through cracks in the Earth's crust, dissolving metals and minerals as it becomes super-heated from nearby magma. This water - which can reach temperatures of 400oC - eventually rises back through the ocean floor, erupting as a geyser from a hydrothermal vent. The dissolved minerals and metals precipitate on contact with the cold sea water, forming a chimney around the vent.
When scientists first discovered these vents in the 1970s, they were amazed to find thriving communities of shrimp, crabs, giant tubeworms, clams, slugs, anemones, and fish. These rare geological features turned out to be oases on the otherwise sparsely inhabited ocean floor, with a biomass equivalent to that of a rainforest. The animals inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents are unlike any other life on Earth. More than 300 species have so far been identified in deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems, of which over 95% are new to science. Many are restricted to a particular vent field, making each ecosystem unique. 
Freshwater RegionsRiver mythology runs deep. The river Acheron, the watery boundary between the world and the Underworld, is known as the River of Pain. Acheron flows into the Periphlegeton and the Cocytus, which is a branch of the Styx. Achelous. This is the river god who wrestled against Heracles for the hand of Deianira. Almo is the god of a river tributary of the Tiber. He is the father of the naiad Lara, also called Tacita because she lost her indiscreet tongue after having reported to Hera that Zeus loved Juturna. Meander. River in Caria, southern Asia Minor. Meander is father of Cyanee, Samia and Calamos. Cyanee married Miletus, son of Apollo. Eridanus. This is a fabulous river, sometimes the Po, other times the Nile or the Ocean. Marsyas is sometimes considered as a Satyr and sometimes as a river god. The myths run on and on and on... 
Freshwater is so called because of its extremely low salt content. It exists in various forms such as lakes, rivers, ponds, swamps, or wetlands, and is host to a wide variety of plants and animals.
As the Earth warmed up following the Pleistocene era, or ice-age, the accumulation of melted ice formed the various lakes, which are found around the globe. While lakes can exist for centuries, other inland bodies of water such as ponds tend to dry up fairly quicker. Because of that factor, the species which breed and inhabit these areas are often threatened by extinction, especially when major change is brought on my human expansion. Lakes and ponds, like the oceans, are divided into separate zones which are defined by their distance from the shore. The littoral zone, which is closest to the shore is host to a wide variety of species due to its warm, shallow environment. Various species of invertebrates, crustaceans, plants and amphibians thrive in this environment, and in turn provide food for predators such as birds, reptiles and other creatures inhabiting the shoreline. 
The limnetic zone, the open water near the surface of a lake or pond, is home to a variety of phytoplankton, and zooplankton, which play an important role in the food chain. Several species of freshwater fish such as bass and lake trout can also be found this area, mainly feeding on insects and plankton. The deeper region of a lake or pond is called the profundal zone. This zone, shrouded in darkness, and serves as a repository for dead plankton, and is inhabited by creatures which feed mostly on decaying organisms.
Other areas of still waters, or wetlands, such as glades, swamps, and marshes support a large variety of aquatic flora and fauna. Aside from plants such as sedges and pond lilies, the wetlands also support a number of incredible trees, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, birds, and insects. 
Rivers and streams mostly get started from mountainous ice and snow melting and springs. Ultimately, rivers and streams end up at the ocean or another waterway. Since this water is in constant motion, it is quite different in fauna and flora to that of lakes and ponds. animals and plants which thrive in lakes would have trouble surviving the colder water and limited shorelines of rivers. Some fish, such as river trout, and small scavengers such as crayfish can be found in various areas of the river; usually depending on water temperature and the exposure of a riverbank to sunlight. The colder areas are host to salmon and other more vigorous fish, whilst the warmer areas, rich in sediment and decaying matter are inhabited by catfish, carp, and other bottom feeders. River plants include floating weeds and algae, mostly found forming around rocks and submerged tree roots.
The area where freshwater meets saltwater, is called an estuary; this area usually features unique characteristics, trees and algae, seaweed, wetland flora, and various species of invertebrates, birds, reptiles and crustaceans congregate into a complex ecosystem, serving as a "silk road" to the world's aquatic biomes. |
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