Terms every diver should know.
Rays are the other star-power cartilaginous fishes, outnumbering sharks in species and matching them in variety of lifestyles. Stingrays lurk on the seafloor, Eagle Rays soar above the reef, Manta Rays cruise the oceans. Did I mention Star Power? WITH FLATTENED BODIES, RAYS HAVE TAKEN THE PECTORAL FIN/HYDRODYNAMIC LIFT CONCEPT so far as to develop their pectoral fins into broad “wings.” Eagle and manta rays’ wings let them soar through the open waters like…well, eagles…flapping and
Read more
Describing pelagic fishes is easy: They swim, feed and just hang out in the open ocean, a pretty consistent pattern across many ocean-going species. Describing benthic fishes is something else. They live at the bottom of the ocean but they go about their lives in a bunch of differing ways – above, on and sometimes in the seafloor. Some may engage in all three approaches. IF TOLSTOY HAD WRITTEN ABOUT MARINE LIFE, he might have
Read more
We’re all likely familiar with the terms “murder” of crows and “pride” of lions for assemblages of those animals. But marine animals groups have names, too, some familiar, some strange and some… really strange. As in, a “fluther” of jellyfish, a “risk” of lobsters and a “turmoil” of porpoises. There’s not any point to any of this but still I felt impelled to produce a list, from fishes to sea birds, sharks to pelicans, after
Read more
The terms Osteichthyes and Chondrichthyes may seem a trifle wonkish, as opposed to street talk like “bony fish,” “sharks” and “rays,” but you will encounter them from time to time and should at least be aware of them. • Osteichthyes (os-tee-ik’-thee-eez, from the Greek for “bone” and “fish”) is the taxonomic class of bony fishes, those with hard, rigid skeletons based on calcium, phosphate and other minerals, smooth scales, covered gills and flexible fins. With
Read more
LATERAL LINE (lat’-er-uhl lahyn) A series of tube-like canals and sensory cells along the heads and sides of fishes by which they are able detect vibrations in the surrounding water. Lateral lines almost certainly play roles in schooling behavior, predator detection and fishes’ turning away when they sense over-anxious photographers like me swinging their cameras toward them to shoot photos.
Read more
Holdfast (hohld’-fast) In marine biology terms, structures with which sessile organisms’ such as kelp attach themselves to a solid substrate. Sessile (ses’-il, -ahy) Permanently attached by the base, not able to move about. Substrate (suhb’-streyt) A surface that serves as a base for a sessile marine organism. As in, “a larva looks for a substrate on which to settle.” Stipe (stahyp’) The stem of an algae organism, most often used with reference to larger varieties
Read more
Anthropocene (æn’ thrō pō seen) A new, if informal, term for the current epoch of geohistory, describing the past 250 years in which mankind’s actions have begun having a significant impact on the earth and its environment. A NEW AGE The epochs of the Tertiary and Quatenary Periods combine the root word “cenes” (from the Greek for “recent”) with other terms. Thus we have the Tertiary Period’s Paleocene (“old-recent”), Miocene (“less-recent”) and Pliocene Epochs (“more-recent”).
Read more
Ce·ta·cean (si-tey‘-shuhn, from the Greek and Latin for “whale”) As an adjective, belonging to Order Cetacea, the catagory of marine mammals that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. As a noun, a marine mammal in that order. Ba·leen (bə-lēn‘) , from the Middle French for “Whalebone”) Bristle-like structures in the mouths of baleen whales, used to strain plankton from seawater, composed of keratin, similar to the material that makes up humans’ fingernails and hair. Also called “Whalebone,” once used
Read more
Fish: The food you buy at a seafood counter Fishes: The animals, both individuals and species, primarily in the classes Chondrichthyes (sharks and rays) and Osteichthyes (bony fishes), that live in the water column. As in, “There are a lot of fishes on that reef…. and a lot of types of fishes.” On the other hand, an individual fish is a…fish.
Read more
You must be logged in to post a comment.