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- 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
- 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
- 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
- Embryo
- young of an organism at its very early stages of development
- Endangered
- plant or animal whose prospects for survival and reproduction are in immediate jeopardy
- Endemic
- native to a specific area, habitat, or region