Aphotic Zone-The tail of a fish
Abysall Zone-A subdivision of the benthic province encompassing the sea floor between the depths of two and six kilometers
Aphotic Zone-The dark region of the ocean that lies below the surface sunlit waters
Aspect Ratio-As applied to the caudal fin of a fish, it is a ratio of the square of the height of the fin to its surface area. Darters and lungers have low aspect ratios, cruisers high aspect ratios
Bathyal Zone-A subdivision of the benthic province encompassing the sea floor between the depths of 200 and 2000 meters
Benthic Province-A primary subdivision of the oceans which includes all of the sea bottom
Benthos-All organisms that live on or within the ocean bottom
Caudal Fin-The tail of a fish
Diffusion-
The dispersal of material by random molecular movement from regions of high concentration to those of lower concentration
Ecology-The study of the interaction of organisms with one another and with their physical and chemical environments.
Epifauna-Animals that live in contact with the sea bottom either freely moving over the substrate or attached to it
Form Drag-The retarding force associated with the surface of a body moving through a fluid or gas, or with a fluid or gas moving across a body surface. Sometimes called surface drag
Hydrostatic Pressure-The pressure at a specified water depth that is the result of the weight of the overlying column of water
Infaune-Animals that live within or burrow through the substrate as opposed to the epifauna which live upon the substrate
Nekton-Animals capable of swimming independently of current flow.
Neritic Zone-A subdivision of the pelagic environment; the water that overlies the continental shelf
Oceanic Zone-The deep water of the oceans beyond the shelf break
Osmosis-The diffusion of water through a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a lower to one with a higher solute concentration
Pelagic Province-All of the water of the oceans, including the neritic and oceanic realms
Photic Zone-The well-lit surface layer of the ocean where plants photosynthesize. Sometimes referred to as the euphotic zone
Phytoplankton-The plant members of the plankton community which are the primary producers of the oceans
Plankton Bloom-The sudden and rapid multiplication of plankton that results in dense concentrations of plant cells in the water
Suface drag-See frictional drag.
Turbulant Drag-Irregular, chaotic fluid flow generated by a hydrodynamically inefficient body design causes considerable drag on an object moving through water or air
Vetical Zonation-The arrangement and vertical succession of distinct bands of communities that are particularly common along rocky shorelines
ZooPlankton-Animal plankton such as foraminifera, radiolaria, copepods, euphausiids, etc.