Page 218 - Dive the Seas and More-2

Coral Reef Teacher’s Guide Resources

Glossary decomposition – the process of breaking down into

smaller elements; decaying.
diurnal – term used to describe animals that become
ahermatype – soft corals and a few hard corals that active during the day.
do not build reefs.
ecosystem – all of the plants and animals in a com‐ mu‐
algae – simple, chiefly aquatic plants, such as nity along with the non‐l
sea‐ weed and kelp.
ecology – the study of the interactions of plants and an‐
anemone – a marine invertebrate related to corals
imals with their environment.
and jellyfish.
endangered species – a species in danger of extinction.
anthropogenic – human‐
endosymbionts – refer to zooxanthellae.
atoll – a ring‐enclose a central lagoon. environment – everything surrounding an organism.
barrier reef – a long narrow ridge of coral parallel equator – an imaginary line circumscribing the Earth’s
to the coastline but separated from it by a lagoon. surface, dividing the Earth into Northern and Southern
hemispheres.
budding – a form of asexual reproduction where a
new cell is formed from the parent cell. extinct – no longer in existence.
calcium carbonate – a white chemical compound
fringing reef – a coral reef that forms adjacent to the
which occurs naturally as chalk and limestone. This shoreline that does not have a lagoon.
is the material which forms coral skeletons.
food chain – a linear pattern of nutrient and energy
camouflage – the act or means of disguising some‐ transfer among organisms in an ecosystem.
thing to deceive a predator.
Great Barrier Reef – the largest living organism in the
carnivore – an animal that eats other animals.
world, stretching over 1,240 miles off the eastern coast
cnidarian – members of the phyla Cnidaria which
of Australia and visible from outer space.
are characterized by a body that only opens at one
hard corals – reef‐building corals that secrete exter‐ nal
end, such as corals, jellyfish, and anemones.
limestone skeletons and typically have tentacles in mul‐
colony – a connected, interrelated group of hard
tiples of six.
coral polyps.
herbivore – an animal that eats plants.
conservation – preservation from loss.
hermaphroditic – containing both male and female sex
coral – colonial marine animals characterized by
cells.
lime‐ stone skeletons, often forming reefs or islands.
hermatype – hard corals that build reefs.
coralline algae – type of red seaweed that encrusts
invertebrate – animal without a backbone.
itself with lime which hel ps to cement the dead cor‐
al rock together. lagoon – a body of shallow water separated from the
open sea by a barrier, such as a reef.
coral bleaching – loss of color by corals which oc‐
curs when the corals are stressed and expel their mangroves – tropical trees that grow in the transi‐ tion‐
endosymbionts. al zone between land and sea; some mangroves have
coral reef – a stony marine structure formed from roots that grow above the ground.
joined skeletons of corals cemented together by mariculture – the farming of marine plants and animals.
al‐ gae and other organisms.
mesenterial filaments – long tubular structures which
crepuscular – term used to describe animals that the coral polyp extends to defend itself from attack.
be‐ come active at dawn and/or dusk.
nematocyst – stinging organ found in corals, jelly‐
crustacean – usually a marine animal that has a hard
shell.

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