Born Hungry in the Water Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anything they can fit in their mouths

Happily for us, and much of the ocean population, the mouth of all but the "giant" jellyfish is limited by size, from the tiniest jellyfish to those of a typical two metres (6.5 feet), because a jellyfish will put anything into that mouth. Most jellyfish drift and float along, with hanging tentacles that sting and shoot with venom whatever they encounter. The jellyfish then uses "oral arms" (hanging tendrils) and their tentacles to guide the food to the bottom of its bell-shaped body where the mouth is. The jellyfish will also spread the tentacles wide and then drop down through the water, stinging and gathering into its mouth all victims in the way as it descends. Whoa.

Typically for a jellyfish it is brine shrimp, eggs, larvae, zooplankton (tiny sea animals), small fish and other jellyfish that fit into the pie-hole. Because they are top predators once they dominate (that is, consume) an ecosystem it is unlikely to recover, especially if it was out of balance to begin with, by over-fishing, for example. These unique creatures have been around for some 500 million years, and they are found throughout the world and in all depths of ocean, as well as a few species in fresh water. Most jellyfish stings aren't fatal, though a box jellyfish or a sea wasp can definitely kill you.

Did you choose the incorrect answer option, "peanut butter", for the "jelly" fish? They'd eat it if they could, spread on a triple layer, five-meat Dagwood sandwich. This creature is ravenous.

Answer: Crabs

Like crabeater seals, cape clawless and Asian small-clawed otters feed almost entirely on crabs. Crabs have many predators, despite their very hard shells and powerful pincers, perhaps because they are so delicious.

Sea otters live in the Pacific Ocean on the USA's west coast, and off Alaska and Russia. They are essential for the health of a kelp forest habitat.

Otters have a pocket of loose flesh under their forelimbs, where they store their most useful tool, a rock. Known for creative use of tools, an otter floats on its back, places the rock on the tummy, and smashes prey on the stone. They also use their rock to dislodge prey from safety, or to expose the most delectable pieces. Other species of otter are hungry for many kinds of water foods, including squid, fish, frogs, abalone, sea stars and mussels.

Answer: Decomposers

Shrimp ("caridea") are hungry omnivores that especially like algae, plankton and small fishes, but they are above all the ocean cleaners, its scavengers, called "decomposers" on the food chain. They consume the dead bodies of animals such as fish, whales, insects, snails and clams. There are over 3000 species of shrimp, found in every type of water in the world. Shrimp live from 1-2 years, with the female laying 50,000 to 1 million eggs which hatch two weeks later, float to the surface and become more shrimps, if they make it that far.

Answer: Seagrass

The dugong resembles its distant cousin the manatee, but the dugong is found only in coastal waters around East Africa and Australia. A species vulnerable to extinction, many live in Shark Bay of Western Australia, grazing, like a proper cow, on a healthy diet of seagrass.

The manatee enjoys a broader range of foods, including weeds and algae, which somehow sustains their 400 to 1,300 pounds. No self-respecting sea cow is hungry for wrong answer options horses or oysters. Yuck.

Answer: True

The voracious squid are deadly hunters--swift, quiet and aggressive. When they are young squid often do form a hunting party and help each other capture fish, crab, oysters or even each other. Once a squid gets a death grip on its prey, a beak near the mouth shreds the food, then a sort of tongue with teeth grinds it up. An adult hunts alone, and if it has enough bulk it is a bitter foe, taking on deep sea fish, whales and even a shark. The giant squid's eye is as big as your head, and the fearless squid has been known to track down and attack a ship.

An interesting squid called the "vampire" (squid from hell, Vampyroteuthis infernalis) is about a foot long (30 cm), and lives deep below the sea, in minimal oxygen and light, harmlessly feeding on abundant "marine snow", a floating, sinking rain of particles called detritus. The vampire squid passively harvests this detritus, a feeding strategy unknown in any other cephalopod. It's called a vampire simply because of its dark web-like cloak and red eyes. Poor maligned little guy.

Answer: Jellyfish

Although some of us might go the distance for a Big Mac hamburger, leatherback sea turtles journey thousands of miles for their favorite and almost exclusive prey, the jellyfish, often following them into extremely cold water. To catch their delectable a turtle will dive deeper than 1000 m (well over 3,000 feet), deeper than nearly any tetrapod. With a thick shell, "leather" skin and well-protected eyes, the turtle is the rare creature shielded from jellyfish stings, therefore it keeps the jellyfish population in check.

Unfortunately to a turtle plastic bags look very much like jellyfish, ending up in the stomach, either killing the turtle outright or causing a slow decline when plastic takes up room in the digestive track that should fill with food. (Can't we make plastic bags that don't look like jellyfish?)

Green sea turtles are large, named for their green fat, not their blackish shells. They are the only herbivorous species of turtle. They start out carnivorous, but perhaps to rebel against their parents they give up meat and become vegetarians. In Hawaii tourists enjoy swimming with the gentle turtles, who dine on seagrass and algae.

Answer: Plastics

According to "National Geographic" tiny fish such as anchovies are eating "microplastics"--tiny toxic bits of plastic found abundantly in the oceans. In turn the tiny fish are eaten by larger fish, and eventually by humans. Each microplastic is about the size of a grain of rice, formed when bigger plastic at the surface is broken down by sunlight and waves.

Their numbers range in the trillions. In 2017 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Southwest Fisheries Science Center (really) documented at least 700 species of fish, animals and birds eating these microplastics, but there's a lot more to learn about how this happens, and what effect it has.

They did determine that everyone is hungry for the plastics because after bobbing around a good while, plastic takes on ocean odors, so it smells like food. Tupperware, yum.

Answer: Seaweed

The fierce looking marine iguana (also called a saltwater, sea, or Galapagos) lives on land, spends much of its time sun bathing, but eats in the water. Native to the Galapagos Islands, scary to behold, the only thing this reptile attacks is seaweed and algae. They are serious about their meals, though, diving for up to a hour underwater, using sharp teeth to tear at the seaweed, maneuvering through lush growth using a powerful tail. This iguana is able to stay underwater by slowing down its body systems to the point it has little need for air.

Once the belly is full, the iguana heads back to the beach and a good book. Despite the spines on its back, leathery lips, thick claws and a habit of sneezing profusely, people pay to snorkel with them at some tourist locations.

Answer: True

Seahorses are so bony, most marine animals avoid eating them. Stingray, manta ray, tuna, penguins and sometimes shore birds may nab a seahorse, especially if the young are floating about, but it's an excessively crunchy lunch. Not for the crab, found in the same shallow, tropical waters.

The crab is the greatest predator of the seahorse, even dragging it out from hiding places to snack upon. Habitat loss and pollution are severe threats to seahorses, as is over-harvesting in areas where people cook them, use them as ingredients in medicines, or capture and sell live seahorse to pet stores and aquariums.

Answer: Echolocation

The Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) also called a boto, is a freshwater carnivore, the biggest of the river dolphin species. The boto uses echolocation to find small fish in the dark river water, or they poke a long snout into the mud to root out food. Stiff hairs on the beak help them sense prey. They'll also eat crabs, shellfish, small turtles and even piranhas. They have a funny courtship ritual in which they grab a turtle or some other "flag" they can hold above water. Then they wave their living flag at the object of their affection. Unless you are the flag, it's adorable.

Traditional Amazonian belief holds that the boto is a magical being, even taking human form at times. This once protected the dolphin, but today accidental death in nets and boat motors, excessive mercury from gold mines and oil-related deaths are common, while some ignore boto magical status and hunt them. In the wild of late an average lifespan is only thirty-three months. Yet the boto has the characteristic good humor and big smile of a dolphin.