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- Color phase
- roughly analogous to hair color in humans; one of several coat colors present in a single species
- Commensal
- a type of symbiotic relationship in which an organism lives in a close association with another organism, with one benefiting from the association without helping or harming the other organism
- Community
- ecological collection of different plants and animal populations living within a given area or zone
- Concave
- curved or rounded inward
- Consumer
- heterotropic organism that feeds on other organisms
- Copepod
- any member of the crustacean Subclass Copepoda
- Copepod
- Within the water column, copepods are the most numerous multi-cellular organisms.They often referred to as the “insects of the sea”, because of their sheer numbers and similar role in food webs as insects have on land. Marine copepods are the major food item for many other planktonic species, sea-birds, some great whales, and filter-feeding sharks. Copepod means “oar footed”.
- Copulation
- act of sexual reproduction
- Coronal muscles
- structures embedded on underside of a jelly's bell that push water out of the bell; jelly moves on opposite direction of the push
- Countercurrent heat exchange
- a way to conserve body heat by exchanging heat from warm blood flowing to the body surface with cool blood flowing to the body core
- Countershading
- type of protective coloration in which an animal is dark on its top side and light on its under side
- Countershading
- type of protective coloration in which an animal is dark on its top side and light on its under side
- Courtship
- specific behavior(s) performed as a prelude to mating to attract and secure mates
- Creche
- a group (flock) of unrelated young birds gathered together for protection
- Crepuscular
- active at twilight or just before sunrise
- Critical Habitat
- areas of habitat that are crucial to the survival of a species and essential for its conservation and that have been formally designated as such by rule published in the Federal Register.
- Crustacean
- any member of the Class Crustacea of arthropods; have hard outer shell, jointed legs and gills for breathing; e.g., crabs, shrimps and barnacles
- Cryptic
- camouflaged, fitted for concealment
- Ctenophora
- phylum that contains comb jellies
- Cubozoan
- name proposed by some research scientists for a fourth class in Phylum Cnidaria that would include box-shaped jellies, e.g., sea wasp
- Current
- horizontal movement of water or air
- Dead reckoning
- the process of estimating one's current position based on a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based on known speed, elapsed time, and course.
- Debilitate
- to weaken, deprive of strength
- Decimate
- organism such as a fungus or bacterium that causes decay of dead plants and animals
- Decomposer
- organism such as a fungus or bacterium that causes decay of dead plants and animals
- Delayed implantation
- fertilized egg remains free in the uterus prior to attachment to the uterine wall and placental formation
- Demersal
- living on or just above the bottom of a body of water
- Dentin
- a hard and bone-like tissue that forms most of the tooth
- Dentin
- a hard and bone-like tissue that forms most of the tooth
- Deposit feeder
- animal that feeds by consuming debris (detritus) on or in the seafloor
- Dermal denticles
- tooth like scales embedded in the skin (dermis of elasmobranches (sharks, rays, skates); placoid scales
- Detritus
- particles of organic and inorganic debris from decaying plants and animals
- Diatom
- flowering plant with two seed leaves
- Dicot
- flowering plant with two seed leaves
- Dimorphism
- biological differences between two or more types; having two different distinct forms in the same species, as in sexual dimorphism, where males and females have different characteristics
- Dioecious
- plants that have only male or only female flowers on individual plants
- Disruptive coloration
- type of camouflage where color patterns break up or disrupt body form to make an animal unrecognizable to predators or prey
- Diurnal
- occurring or active during the day
- Diurnal tide
- tide that has only one high and low tide instead of two in each tidal day of 24 hrs 50 min.
- Diversity
- richness of an area in relation to numbers of different types of organisms or groups of organisms in an area or zone
- Dormancy
- period of inactivity brought about by colder temperatures, where breathing and circulation slow slightly
- Dorsal
- pertaining to the back or upper surface
- Downwelling
- sinking of water or water masses below the surface
- Drift algae
- pieces of seaweed that break free of their attachment and drift
- Echinoderm
- any member of the Phylum Echinodermata; invertebrates that usually have a hard, spiny skeleton, radial body and water vascular system; includes sea stars, sand dollars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers
- Echolocation
- process that involves the emission of sounds that reflected back from objects; aids in the animal's orientation and object location; detection of object by reflected sound
- Ecology
- study of the relationships of organisms to each other and to their surroundings
- Ecosystem
- all of the life forms in a given environment with its associated abiotic (non-living) factors
- El Nino
- warm, tropical surface current flowing north and south along the west coasts of North and South America that usually happens every few decades
- Elasmobranch
- Any member of a class of fishes that includes sharks, rays, and skatesthat have a cartilaginous skeleton and plate
