Aquatic animal

Longfin Sculpin (Jordania zonope)

An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which
lives in water for most or all of its life. [1] Some examples of invertebrates
are cnidarians. This phylum consists of jellyfish, anemones, corals, and
hydras. Another type of invertebrate aquatic animal is the annelids which
are segmented worms. There are three different classes they are
polychaetes, oligochaetes, and hirudinea.[2] It may breathe air or extract
its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called
gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals
that live in them can be categorized as aquatic (water) or terrestrial
(land). Animals that move readily from water to land and vice versa are
referred to as amphibians. When animals live in water, they have special
adaptations to help them survive in an aquatic habitat. The more time the

animal spends in the water the quicker they adapt to their new habitat.
There are numerous ways that an aquatic animal can adapt to their
habitat.
The term aquatic can in theory be applied to animals that live in either
freshwater

(freshwater

animals)

or

saltwater

(seawater

animals).

However, the adjective marine is most commonly used for animals that
live in saltwater, i.e. in oceans, seas, etc. Invasive aquatic animals require
a water habitat, but do not necessarily have to live entirely in water.
Aquatic animals (especially freshwater animals) are often of special
concern to conservationists because of the fragility of their environments.
Aquatic animals are subject to pressure from overfishing, destructive
fishing, marine pollution and climate change.
Aquatic plant

The flower of Nymphaea alba, a species of water

lily
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic
environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as
hydrophytes or macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations
for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. The most
common adaptation is aerenchyma, but floating leaves and finely
dissected leaves are also common. Aquatic plants can only grow in water
or in soil that is permanently saturated with water. They are therefore a
common component of wetlands.[4]

The principal factor controlling the distribution of aquatic plants is the

depth and duration of flooding. However, other factors may also control
their distribution, abundance, and growth form, including nutrients,
disturbance from waves, grazing, and salinity.[5]
Aquatic vascular plants have originated on multiple occasions in different
plant families; they can be ferns or angiosperms (including both monocots
and

dicots).

Seaweeds

are

not

vascular

plants;

rather

they

are

multicellular marine algae, and therefore are not typically included among
aquatic plants. A few aquatic plants are able to survive in brackish, saline,
and salt water.[8] Examples are found in genera such as Thalassia and
Zostera. Although most aquatic plants can reproduce by flowering and
setting seed, many also have extensive asexual reproduction by means of
rhizomes, turions, and fragments in general.[9]

Terrestrial plant

Terrestrial plants
A terrestrial plant is a plant that grows on or in or from land. Other
types of plants are aquatic (living in water), epiphytic (living on trees),
lithophytes (living in or on rocks).
Non-terrestrial plants
Aquatic plants
The distinction between an aquatic plant and a terrestrial plant is often
blurred because of the tendency for many aquatic species to have both
submersed and emersed forms and because many terrestrial plants are
able to tolerate periodic submersion. There are relatively few obligate
submersed aquatic plants, (i.e. species that cannot tolerate emersion for
even relatively short periods) but some examples include members of
Hydrocharitaceae and Cabombaceae, Ceratophyllum, and Aldrovanda and
most macroalgae (e.g. Chara and Nitella). Most aquatic plants can, or
prefer to, grow in the emersed form, and most only flower in that form.
Many terrestrial plants can tolerate extended periods of inundation, and
this is often part of the natural habitat of the plant where flooding is
common. These plants (termed helophytes) tolerate extended periods of
waterlogging around the roots and even complete submersion under flood
waters. Growth rates of helophytes decrease significantly during these

periods of complete submersion and if water levels do not recede the

plant will ultimately decline and perish.
Terrestrial Animals
A geographical picture shows Japan at the East, China at the West, Taiwan
at the South, and the Korean Peninsula at the North of Jeju. Seasonal
transformations of migratory birds and insects have been detected
conspicuously. Restricted numbers of amphibian reptiles and mammals,
which lack migratory habits, have been transformed as well.
Insects

The first announcement of insects of Jeju Island to the academic world was
made by Tatum (1847) in the "Description of New Species of Carabus from
Asia" in the Ann. Mag Nat. Hist 20:14-15. In it, the Jeju ground beetle.
Carabus monilifer (Same type but of a different name from Carabus
smaragdinus monilifer Tatum), of ground beetle order ground beetle
family, was reported to our academic world for the first time. Distinctive
insects in Jeju island are comprised of 23 subtropical zone types, 47 frigid
zone types, and 19 indigenous insects.
Amphibians / Reptiles
Amphibians and Reptiles of Jeju Island are the same as those of the
mainland. However, it is located in the extreme southern area and there
are many types of animals that live in this island since it is located
between the Korea mainland, Japan and China. Amphibians confirmed by

documentations and site surveys are comprised of 4 orders and 5 families,

and reptiles of 4 orders and 8 species (Table 5). Sibynophis chinensis is
one type of reptile that inhabits Jeju.