The Library

Glossary!

Expand your mind and your vocabulary! If you see words that you don't understand, or would like to see added from within our website Email The Words To William Whitefish and he will have them posted here in a jiffy.

A

Abalone: A large snail valued both for food and for its single, flattened shell lined with mother-of-pearl.

Abyss: The great depths of the ocean floor-usually with depths of 15, 000 feet or more.

Abyssal Plain: Any of the large flat areas of deep ocean floor.

Adaptation: For the purposes of our habitat descriptions, adaptation refers to a characteristic that better enables an animal to survive

Alevin: The young of salmon, which hatch in gravel on riverbeds.

Antenna: A slender feeler located on the head of some animals. The feeler contains sense organs.

Aphotic zone: The zone to which no light from the surface penetrates.

Atoll: A horseshoe or circular array of islands, capping a coral reef system perched around an oceanic volcanic seamount.

Autotrophic: refers to an organism that produces its own food (eg. plants and algae).

B

Bacteria: Microscopic, single-celled organisms.

Ballast water: water pumped into the bottom of a ship to ensure its stability, especially in rough seas.

Baleen: plates of hard fringed material that line the mouths of certain whales. It is used to filter food such as plankton and small fish out of the water.

Baleen whale: This refers to marine mammals from the Order Cetacea and Suborder Mysticeti. These whales are large and have symmetrically shaped heads, two blowholes and baleen plates lining their mouth. There are 11 species of baleen whales in the world today.

Barnacle: Any of several species of small sea animals related to crabs with a cone-shaped shell. The larvae cement themselves permanently to rocks, wharves, or the bottom of ships to grow to adulthood.

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Basin: A large, cup-shaped dent in the ocean floor.

Bathypelagic zone: The very deep dark layer of the open sea, from 1,000 meters to at least 4,000 meters deep.

Bathythermograph: A scientific instrument used to measure underwater temperatures.

Bathysphere: A metal ball or sphere lowered on a cable from a ship for deep sea diving.

Bay: A part of a larger body of water that cuts into a shoreline, forming a curve.

Beaufort Scale: A scientific scale used to indicate the strength of the wind at sea.

Benthopelagic zone: The layer of the deep sea far from the coast, located just over the bottom and at least 200 meters deep.

Binary fission: equal division of a single-celled organism into two organisms.

Biodegradable: The ability of a substance or material to break down into harmless substances by the action of living organisms.

Bioluminescence: production of light by living organisms such as plankton, fish, fireflies etc . . . .

Bioluminescent: Able to produce light.

Bivalve: A group of soft-bodied organisms that live enclosed in two shells, and have a muscular foot and siphons (e.g. mussels, clams, oysters).

Black Smokers: Mineral chimneys on the ocean floor. They spew black smoke and very hot water rich in sulphur, which some deep-sea organisms use to make food.

Blowhole: The nostril (can be one or two) on top of a whale’s head through which it breathes.

Breaker: A wave whose crest falls forward and crashes

Buoyancy: ability to float or keep something afloat (eg. an organism).

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C

Camouflage: The shape or colour of an animal that allows it to blend in with its surroundings to hide and avoid predators or to catch food.

Carapace: The hard outside covering of crab bodies.

Carnivore: An animal that eats other animals or meat for food.

Carrion: the dead, decomposing flesh of an animal

Cellulose: a fibrous carbohydrate found in the cell walls of plants.

Cetaceans: The group of marine mammals with teeth, including whales, porpoises and dolphins.

Chemosynthesis: The process by which microorganisms use energy produced during chemical reactions to produce food from carbon dioxide and water.

Chiton: Any of several species of primitive sea animals related to snails.

Chimney: A tall column of solidified minerals on the ocean floor.

Chloroplast: a plastid containing chlorophyll found in plant cells.

Coastal drainage: refers to a river system that flows/drains into the ocean.

Conservation: the preservation or restoration of the natural environment and wildlife, or the careful use of a resource.

Contaminate: to make unsafe for drinking. A poisonous or polluting substance that makes impure that to which it is added.

Continental Slope: The gently sloping submerged land near the coastline that forms the side of an ocean basin.

Continental Shelf: A flat, projecting extension of land submerged beneath a shallow sea.

Coral polyp: A tube-shaped animal with a soft body and a circle of tentacles at the top. More than 400 species of coral live in colonies in the oceans.

Coral reef: A structure that is made from the skeletons of soft-bodied coral animals or polyps, and is found in warm waters.

Crab: A crustacean having a flattened body, four pairs of legs, plus a pair of grasping claws, and a reduced abdomen.

Crest: The top of a wave.

Crustacean: A creature, such as a lobster, shrimp or crab that has no backbone, a hard outer shell, and usually lives in the water.

Current: A body of water that flows through the sea.

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D

Detritus: loose matter on the sea floor.

Diatom: A single-celled plant that often floats near the surface of the ocean. It usually is the first organism in a food chain or food web. Diatoms are a common component of plankton.

Diffusion: the random movement of particles (gases, ions etc...)

Disphotic zone: the zone that is dimly lit and does not have enough light penetrating from the surface to carry out photosynthesis

Dorsal fin: A fin on the back of a fish. It helps a fish keep its balance as it moves through the water.

E

Echolocation: a system used by many cetaceans to navigate, orient themselves and search for food. It is accomplished by sending out sounds and interpreting the echoes produced.

Ecology: The study of the relationship between plants and animals (including humans) and their environment.

Ecosystem: All of the organisms in a biological community and the non biological environmental factors that interact with them

Environmental Assessment: A process designed to identify, analyze and evaluate the environmental effects of proposed projects.

Epipelagic Zone: The lighted, open ocean layer from the surface to about 300 meters deep.

Estuary: The mouth of a river where its currents meet the ocean’s tides.

Euphasid: A small shrimp-like creature that lives in the ocean.

Euphotic zone: the zone where enough ligh penetrates so that photosynthesis can occur

Exoskeleton: the hard external shell of invertebrates that provides body support in a similar manner to the bones of vertebrates.

Excretion: to eliminate waste from a plant or animals body.

Exposed shore: A coastline that has no offshore islands to shelter it, or bays and inlets to provide shelter from the full force of waves.

Extinct: having no living members, no longer in existence.

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F

Filter Feeder: An organism that obtains food by filtering small particles from relatively large volumes of water.

Food chain: A series of plants and animals linked by their feeding relationships. The smallest organisms in the chain are eaten by the larger organisms, which are eaten by still larger organisms.

Foraminifer: A small creature that lives in the ocean.

G

Gill: The organ that many sea creatures use for breathing.

Guyot: An underwater volcano with a flat top.

H

Habitat: The place and natural conditions in which a plant or animal lives.

Herbivore: An animal that eats plants or plant life.

Heterotrophic: obtaining nourishment from organic substances, not from food produced within the organism.

Holdfast: A structure anchoring seaweed to rocks and other hard surfaces.

Hydrographic: Referring to the arrangement and movement of bodies of water, such as currents and water masses.

Hydrogen Sulfide: A chemical that is toxic to most animals, but used by some bacteria to make food in a process known as chemosynthesis.

Hydrothermal Vent: A place on the ocean floor where hot, chemical-filled water flows up through cracks in the Earth's crust.

I

Iceberg: A large floating chunk of ice, broken off from a glacier and carried out to sea on ocean currents.

Ice floes: a fairly flat mass of floating ice. They can be between 25 cm and 1 km in diameter. Many polar animals spend a lot of their time here.

ichthyologist: a scientist who studies fish.

Intertidal: The area between the high tide mark and the low tide mark on a seashore.

Interdependence: The idea that everything in nature is connected to everything else; what happens to one plant or animal also affects other plants and animals.

Invasive species: species that enter into new ecosystems and spread, causing damage to native species and their habitats.

Invertebrate: A creature without a backbone.

Ion: an atom or group of atoms that is electrically charged.

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J

Jellyfish: A jelly-like, free-swimming sea animal with a bell-shaped body, and generally with long stinging threads on the surface.

K

Kraken:Giant squid

Kelp: Any one of a large variety of brown seaweeds.

Krill: A shrimplike creature that lives in large numbers in polar waters.

L

Lateral line: A sense organ on some fish that detects the slightest water movements; a series of tiny pits with hairs that form a visible line along both sides of a fish.

Limpet: A slow-moving animal with a large, flat, muscular foot, and a hard shell into which the animal can withdraw.

M

Marine: refers to saltwater (marine waters) and sometimes refers to something aquatic (marine mammals ie. there are a few freshwater marine mammals).

Marine Biology: The study of ocean life.

Marine Snow: The remains of plants and animals that drift down from the sunlit surface waters of the ocean to the depths. Marine snow is the base of most deep-sea food chains.

Mesopelagic Zone: The layer of the open ocean from about 300 to 1,000 meters deep..

Mid-Ocean Ridge: A huge underwater mountain range.

Mollusk: An animal, such as a snail, squid, or octopus, with no backbone and a soft body that can be enclosed or partially enclosed by a shell.

Molt: To shed the hard, protective outer covering; the covering left behind after an organism, such as the crab, shrimp or barnacle, sheds it in order to grow.

Mudflat: a habitat with a muddy substrate that has no water covering it at low tide and is covered by water at high tide.

Mutualism: A form of symbiosis that benefits both organisms.

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N

Nautical mile: A mile measured at sea-equal to 6, 076 feet. A land mile is equal to 5, 280 feet.

Navigation: The science of directing the course of travel for a ship.

Neap Tide: The smallest rise and fall in a tide that occurs when the sun and the moon are at right angles to the earth.

Nucleus: the central mass of a living cell which is essential to the life of most cells and to the transmission of hereditary material.

O

Oceanic Ridge: A long, narrow chain of underwater mountains formed when two of the earth’s plates meet and magma swells up to the surface to form a new sea floor.

Oceanic Trench: A long, narrow valley under the sea that contains some of the deepest points on earth.

Oceanographer: A scientist who studies the ocean, its topography, and its inhabitants.

Oceanography: The science that deals with the study of the oceans and the living things in them.

Octopus: An animal having a bag shaped body with eight arms, and with suction cups on the underside of the arms for grasping prey.

Omnivorous: refers to an animal that eats both animal and plant matter.

Organelle: refers to different bodies within a living cell that permorm various functions (eg. vacuole, endoplasmic reticulum).

Ostracod: A small, seed-shaped animal with two shells. Ostracods live in water.

Oxygenate: to fill or give oxygen to a substance or body.

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P

Photic Zone: The area of the ocean where there is enough sunlight for plants to survive.

Photophore: A glowing organ that contains light-producing chemicals.

Photosynthesis: a process that occurs in plants, where light energy causes a chemical reaction which allows the plant to produce sugars.

Pigments: the colouring matter in the cells of plants and animals.

Pillow lava: Lava formed when hot gases and liquid bubble up through the sea floor and harden. This lava then becomes part of a new seabed.

Plankton: Tiny plant or animal organisms that drift near the surface of the water and which form an important link in the food chain.

Pollutant: A substance that destroys the purity of air, water, or land.

Predator: an animal that hunts other animals for food.

Pressure: The force produced by pressing on something.

Primary production: the growth produced by the organisms on the bottom of the food chain (plants, algae), which fuels the rest of the food chain.

Primitive: of ancient origin.

Proboscis: outgrowth of the mouth (in marine worms) that contains jaws.

Protected Shores: A coastline that has offshore islands to shelter it, or bays and inlets to provide shelter from the full force of waves.

Protoplasm: a viscous translucent material that makes up the substance of all living cells.

R

Refuse: garbage

Resident population: a population of animals that is know to occupy a specific area for at least a part of the year.

Rudimentary: very elementary or early stage of development.

Runoff: The part of precipitation that washes from the land into bodies of water, such as the ocean.

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S

Salinity: The concentration of dissolved minerals, including salt, in water.

Sand dollar: An animal with a very flattened, circular body covered with spines and showing the five-star pattern; related to sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.

Scales: Thin, overlapping flat plates that form a protective outer covering on fish, reptiles, and the legs of birds.

Scallop: A bivalve with a "scalloped" shell.

Sea anemone: An attached marine animal with tentacles around the mouth opening, creating a flower-like appearance. The tentacles have stinging cells that capture food.

Sea cucumber: An elongated animal with generally five rows of tube feet running the length of the body, and a ring of mop-like tentacles around the mouth.

Seamount: An underwater mountain.

Sea star: A star-shaped animal having a central area and five or more rays with tube feet which adhere firmly to rocks and aid in movement and food capture.

Sea urchin: Animals with long bristling spines, tube feet, and five movable tooth-like parts in the mouth.

Seaweed: A marine plant, also called algae.

Sediment: Mineral or organic matter that contains millions of tiny animals and plants and which settles on the bottom of the sea.

Seep: An area of the sea floor where hydrogen sulfide is released by the seeping or bubbling of oil or natural gas up through the ocean bottom.

Sessile: Something that is non motile.

Shrimp: A long-tailed crustacean having a fused head and thorax, and powerful, segmented abdomen.

Siphon: A tube-like structure in certain marine animals, such as clams and octopuses, allowing the passage of seawater.

Spawn: release or deposit eggs.

Sponge: A permanently attached animal having a soft, porous skeleton and being of various sizes, shapes and colours.

Spring tide: The greatest rise and fall in a tide that occurs when the sun and the moon are in line with the earth.

Streamlined: the contour given to an object so that it can move through a liquid with minimum resistance.

Submersible: A small submarine that is able to reach the depths of the ocean or that is able to probe inside places that are too small for ordinary vessels.

Surface layer: The top layer of seawater – the layer with the warmest water and where the temperature changes only slightly with depth.

Symbiosis: The close association of two different organisms, in which one or both benefit from the relationship.

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T

Tentacle: A slender flexible feeler that enables an animal with no backbone to touch things.

Tide: The repeating rise and fall of the earth's sea, caused by the pull of the moon and sun on the water.

Toothed whale: This refers to marine mammals from the Order Cetacea and Suborder Odontoceti. These whales are carnivores with uniformly sized teeth that are used to grasp their prey. There are 30 species of toothed whales in the world today.

Toxic: poisonous

Trench: A deep gash or valley in the ocean floor.

Trough: The lowest point in a wave between crests.

Tsunami: A gigantic, often destructive wave, which is usually triggered by an undersea volcano or earthquake. Also referred to as a tidal wave.

Twilight Zone: The area of the ocean below the sunlit photic zone and above the zone of total darkness.

U

Unicellular: a singe cell.

V

Voluntary actions: Actions done without payment.

W

Whirlpool: A whirling, circular movement of water created when the tide turns and opposing currents meet.

Web of life: for our discussions refers to the interactions and connections between all living things.

Z

Zooplankton: Small animals that drift in the ocean.