Deep Sea Fauna

[Zachthemac]

I'm curious as to how some fish and crustaceans have adapted the ability to live with the high pressure of the deep sea. Why is it that a human's rib cage would collapse and he would die instantly, but the wildlife at this depth are able tol survive? Thanks for any comments.

[MrMistery]

Each species has a fundamental niche and a realised niche. Because of competition for food those animals only live in a small part of their fundamental niche, called realised niche. They were forced to live there, and adapted adequately by developing harder bones and tougher structures to resist it. That was their evolutionary path. Humans are adapted to the presure at the surface of 1 atm. If they go into the deep, they are out of their realised niche and intruding on someone else's teritory. They can not survive there because they lack those adaptations. Get it?
Regards
Andrew

[Zachthemac]

Thanks. I understand what you are saying, but even standard submarines will be crushed in the deepest parts of the oceans, so how could a fish's bones be built stronger than the sub's steel hull?

[mith]

eh, I dunno how but I know these deep sea critters explode when they come to the surface, I bet a lot has to do with the circulatory system more than the bones...(think what happens when we go to space without a spacesuit)

[Zachthemac]

EXPLODE?

Here is an interesting adaptation:

For example, said Edward Seidel, enzymes, which are essential for functions such as digesting food, have specific shapes that allow them to function under the extreme pressure of the deep sea.

"When you release that pressure, the shape of the enzyme changes, and since it changes, it no longer functions and the animal no longer can survive," he said.

[MrMistery]

Mithril is right. The circulatory system also needs to be adapted. Interesting thing with those enzymes.
Yes, explode. BEing very well adapted to the immense pressure of the deep when they come to normal pressure they explode.

[doctor phil]

the best known deep sea animal is the giant squid. my friends say theve found one, but i dont think its whole

[David George]

This isn't science fiction. A set of extraordinary images captured by Japanese scientists marks the first-ever record of a live giant squid (Architeuthis) in the wild.

The animal—which measures roughly 25 feet (8 meters) long—was photographed 2,950 feet (900 meters) beneath the North Pacific Ocean. Japanese scientists attracted the squid toward cameras attached to a baited fishing line.

The scientists say they snapped more than 500 images of the massive cephalopod before it broke free after snagging itself on a hook. They also recovered one of the giant squid's two longest tentacles, which severed during its struggle.

The photo sequence, taken off Japan's Ogasawara Islands in September 2004, shows the squid homing in on the baited line and enveloping it in "a ball of tentacles."