Question

below is a food web from a coral reef ecosystem off the coast of the marshall islands, in the pacific ocean. which one of the following organisms eats a secondary consumer in this food web? clam phytoplankton zooplankton tiger shark

Explanation:

1. First, identify trophic levels: Producers (phytoplankton, macroalgae) → Primary Consumers (eat producers, e.g., zooplankton, damselfish, clam, polychaete worm, convict tang, etc.) → Secondary Consumers (eat primary consumers, e.g., triggerfish, manta ray, pufferfish, rockskipper, peacock flounder, etc.) → Tertiary Consumers (eat secondary consumers, e.g., tiger shark).
2. Analyze options:

• Clam: Primary consumer (eats macroalgae), so it doesn't eat a secondary consumer.
• Phytoplankton: Producer, doesn't eat consumers.
• Zooplankton: Primary consumer (eats phytoplankton), doesn't eat secondary consumers.
• Tiger shark: Tertiary consumer. From the food web, it eats manta ray (a secondary consumer, as manta ray eats zooplankton which is primary) and other secondary consumers. So tiger shark eats secondary consumers.

Answer:

tiger shark