My turn!

There are accordingly nine types of marine phyla and are listed as followed (not in order): porifera, cnidarians, platyhelminthes, mollusks, arthropods, annelids, echinoderms, nematoda & chordata. Each phyla are classes to different species of marine life such as sponges & invertebrates class under porifera, gastropods and bivalves to mollusks, etc. We split into groups of 4 - 5, went into the vans and drove off to South Maui for some awesome observations for marine life at the tide pools to study the different phyla present there! We had brought some equipment to safely count the amount of species using a quadrat in a small area and record data.

The research question was to determine which marine phyla would be seen in the tide pools of South Maui, and which would be most diverse and in quantity. With that question, and from what I have learned during this lesson, I will hypothesize that the abundance of arthropoda will exceed the number of echinoderma there at the tide pools. After intensive observation, tallying and recording the data. I can confirm and conclude that the amount of arthropoda present at the tide pools proves greater than the echinoderms that were present (if any). Despite the numbers that were recorded, there were several possibilities of error, such as misplaced quadrat line, miscount, injuries inflicted during experiment, specimens enter & leave quadrat line to contradict already tallied specimens recorded, etc.

I definitely enjoyed the lab with the opportunity to study marine life through a quick trip to the tide pools using the skills we acquired which was coupled with the great assistance by the equipment like the transect tape, quadrat, I acquired how to safely handle the marine life and putting every turned rock or stone to their original place as to not disturb their environment.