plankton

en-noun

plankton (usually uncountable, plural planktons or plankton)

→ Irish: planctón

→ Thai: แพลงก์ตอน (plɛng-dtɔ̂n)

Borrowed from German Plankton, coined by German zoologist and marine biologist Victor Hensen and derived from Ancient Greek πλαγκτός (planktós, “drifter”), from πλάζω (plázō, “I turn aside, wander”).

der

(countable) A plankter, any single organism that drifts in water.


snow

en-noun

snow (countable and uncountable, plural snows)

The noun is derived from Middle English snaw, snou, snow (“snow; accumulation of snow; snowfall; snowstorm; whiteness”), from Old English snāw (“snow”), from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw (“snow”), from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (“snow”), from Proto-Indo-European *snóygʷʰos (“snow”), from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”).
The verb is derived from Middle English snouen (“to snow; (figurative) to shower”), from snou, snow (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Displaced Old English snīwan, whence English snew (obsolete).
Verb sense 2.3.2 (“to convince or hoodwink (someone)”) probably refers to a person being blinded or confused by a snowstorm.
Cognates
* Albanian nehë (“place where the snow melts”) (dialectal)
* Ancient Greek νίφα (nípha)
* Danish sne (“snow”)
* Dutch sneeuw (“snow”)
* German Schnee (“snow”)
* Icelandic snjór (“snow”)
* Latin nix (“snow”)
* Norwegian snø (“snow”)
* Russian снег (sneg)
* Sanskrit स्नेह (snéha, “oil, grease”)
* Scots snaw (“snow”)
* Swedish snö (“snow”)
* West Frisian snie (“snow”)

сы

partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; falling of such flakes; accumulation of them as a white layer

there may be snow on the mountaintop but there's fire in the valley

there may be snow on the rooftop but there is fire in the furnace

Lower down, in the 95 per cent of the ocean where light does not penetrate, many living things feed on ‘marine snow’, the steady drizzle of particles of dead matter, whitish in colour, gradually sinking from the euphotic zone above. Other animals then feed on the ‘snow’ eaters.

2012, Caspar Henderson, “Sea Butterfly”, in The Book of Barely Imagined Beings: A 21st Century Bestiary, 1st American edition, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, published 2013, →ISBN, marginal note, page 286:

Something resembling snow (sense 1) in appearance or color.

(marine biology) Clipping of marine snow (“sinking organic detritus in the ocean”).


test

→ Azerbaijani: test

→ Catalan: test

→ Czech: test

→ Danish: test

→ Dutch: test

→ Finnish: testi

→ French: test

→ German: Test

→ Hungarian: teszt

→ Italian: test

→ Japanese: テスト (tesuto)

→ Korean: 테스트 (teseuteu)

→ Macedonian: тест (test)

→ Norwegian: test

→ Persian: تست (test)

→ Polish: test

→ Portuguese: teste

→ Romanian: test

→ Russian: тест (test)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: тест

Latin script: test

→ Slovene: test

→ Spanish: test

→ Swedish: test

→ Turkish: test

→ Ukrainian: тест (test)

From Middle English test, teste, from Old French test, teste (“an earthen vessel, especially a pot in which metals were tried”), from Latin testum (“the lid of an earthen vessel, an earthen vessel, an earthen pot”), from *terstus, past participle of the root *tersa (“dry land”). See terra, thirst. The examination sense came via metaphor of the metallurgical sense - the way a metallurgist puts to the test their gold, a teacher may put to the test their students' knowledge.

der

(marine biology) The external calciferous shell, or endoskeleton, of an echinoderm, e.g. sand dollars and sea urchins.


testa

en-noun

testa (plural testas or testae or testæ)

testas (plural)
testae (plural)
testæ (plural)

(marine biology) The external calciferous shell, or endoskeleton, of an echinoderm; the test.


palus

From Latin pālus (“stake, post”). Doublet of pole, peel, and pale.

(marine biology) A vertical pillar along the inner septal margin of a coral.


sponge

en-verb

sponge (third-person singular simple present sponges, present participle sponging or spongeing, simple past and past participle sponged)

sponges (present singular third-person)
sponging (participle present)
spongeing (participle present)
sponged (participle past)
sponged (past)

From Middle English sponge, from Old English spunge, taken from Latin spongia, from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), from σπόγγος (spóngos).

Why do dolphins sponge instead of foraging in a more "normal" way?

2013, Pamela S. Turner, The Dolphins of Shark Bay, page 22:

Sponging is worth thinking about in some detail because it illustrates many of the challenges and sources of controversy in studying social learning and culture in wild cetaceans.

2015, Hal Whitehead, Luke Rendell, The Cultural Lives of Whales and, page 109:

Moreover, the females that do it seem to "sponge" relentlessly throughout the day, hunting more than other females and more than male spongers too.

2017, Janet Mann, Deep Thinkers: Inside the Minds of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises, page 153:

(marine biology, of dolphins) To use a piece of wild sponge as a tool when foraging for food.


crèche

Unadapted borrowing from French crèche (“manger”), from Frankish *krippija, *kribbija, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ. Doublet of crib.

ubor

(collective, marine biology) A group of young who stay together for protection.


blowhole

(marine biology) The spiracle, on the top of the head, through which cetaceans breathe.

espiracle

spiracle through which cetaceans breathe

(marine biology) A hole in sea ice where cetaceans and pinnipeds come to breathe.

אָטעמלאָך

hole in sea ice through which cetaceans breathe


carene

From French carène (“keel”), from Latin carīna (“keel”).

(zoology, obsolete) The lower portion of a marine animal's shell, covering its mantle.


pseudobranchia

(marine biology) A small patch of gill-like filaments on the inner surface of the opercle near the junction of the preopercle.


pterygiophore

(marine biology) Any of the bones in a fish that support the dorsal fin. There are two to three of them: proximal, middle, and distal. In spinous fins the distal is often fused to the middle or not present at all.


bluepoint

bluepoints (plural)
blue point (alternative)

(marine biology) A small oyster, of species Crassostrea virginica, from the eastern United States seaboard.


dactylus

The distal end of the club, the dactylus (finger), is pointed and attenuated but is covered with hundreds of small suckers.

1982 April 21, Clyde F.E. Roper, Kenneth J. Boss, “The Giant Squid”, in Scientific American, volume 246, number 4, →JSTOR, pages 96–105:

[…] suckers of carpus and dactylus portions small […]

2001 June 21, N. Neethiselvan, “A new species of cuttlefish Sepia ramani sp. nov. (Class: Cephalopoda) from Tuticorin Bay, southeast coast of India”, in Indian Journal of Marine Sciences, volume 30, number 2, pages 81–86:

(marine biology) The tip of a cephalopod's tentacle club


theca

From New Latin, from Latin thēca, from Ancient Greek θήκη (thḗkē, “a case, box, receptacle”), from τίθημι (títhēmi, “put, set, place”). Doublet of tay.

der

en:external case or sheath in biology, broadly

(biology) Any of several external cases or sheaths.

(biology, marine biology) The calcareous wall of a corallite, the exoskeleton of a coral polyp.


octocoral

Dr. Michela Mitchell, a taxonomist at the Queensland Museum Network, said in a statement released by Ocean Census it could be a type of deep-sea coral called octocoral.

2024 March 11, Katie Hunt, “Scientists discover 100 potential new deep-sea species, including mystery creature”, in CNN:

(marine biology) An anthozoan of the subclass Alcyonaria, having eight-branched tentacles and eight septa.


anthozoan

en-noun

anthozoan (plural anthozoa or anthozoans)

In his childhood, he said, he used to walk beside the chalk cliffs of Devon and Cornwall, […] admiring the endless diversity of the semi-sentient marvels oscillating between the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms, the zooids and corallines, sea anemones, sea fans and sea feathers, the anthozoans and crustaceans over which the tide washed twice a day […].

2001, WG Sebald, translated by Anthea Bell, Austerlitz, Penguin, published 2011, page 126:

(marine biology) A marine invertebrate of the class Anthozoa, such as a sea anemone or coral

korallieläin

a marine invertebrate of the class Anthozoa


corallite

(marine biology) The hard outer cup of a coral polyp


toothed whale

(marine biology) A whale of the Odontoceti parvorder of the cetaceans, including sperm whales, beaked whales, dolphins, and others.


whalefall

From whale + fall, possibly modelled after snowfall. Compare also marine snow.

But the ocean floor is not exactly wall-to-wall whalefalls.

2007 December 18, Henry Fountain, “Whales Are Tasty, but Bone-Eating Worms Might Not Discriminate”, in New York Times:

A whale carcass that has fallen to the ocean floor.


pneumatocyst

(marine biology) A sac or other structure containing air and used for flotation by a marine organism, chiefly used in reference to those of kelps and siphonophores.

pneumatocyste

sac containing air used for flotation by marine organism


physoclist

From physo- + Ancient Greek κλειστός (kleistós, “closed, shut”).

der

(marine biology) A fish whose swim bladder is not open to its esophagus. .


hermatypic

(marine biology) Of a coral that is a species that builds coral reefs


ahermatypic

(marine biology) Of a coral that is a species that does not build coral reefs


whale fall

A whale carcass that has fallen to the seafloor, which in deeper water can sustain a diverse local ecosystem for decades.


palulus

(marine biology) Alternative form of palus


fish kill

(marine biology) An underwater anoxic event, especially one that causes a crash in fish populations


physostome

(marine biology) A fish with a bladder open to its esophagus.


marine snow

Coined by American naturalist William Beebe.

coin

Marine snow contains sufficient energy and nutrients to sustain large numbers of marine organisms in the aphotic zone. Unconsumed marine snow eventually sinks to the bottom where it becomes incorporated into the layer of muddy ooze that forms a thick blanket over much of the seafloor.

2022, Michael Kent, The Marine Environment and Biodiversity, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 24:

As long as there has been marine life, there has been marine snow—a ceaseless drizzle of death and waste sinking from the surface into the depths of the sea. […] Although the term may suggest wintry whites, marine snow is mostly brownish or grayish, comprising mostly dead things.

2022 April 3, Sabrina Imbler, “In the ocean, it’s snowing microplastics”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

(marine biology) Sinking organic detritus in the ocean.


Lessepsian

From Lesseps, the surname of Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805–1894) + -ian (suffix forming adjectives or nouns meaning ‘belonging to, relating to, or like’).

suffix

The Polychaeta Cirriformia semicincta, Branchiosyllis uncinigera and Spirobranchus giganteus, considered by [Lucien] Laubier (1966) to be lessepsian immigrants, are more probably circumtropical species, which are warm water relics along the Levant coast, where Laubier found them, and not necessarily immigrants through the Suez Canal.

1971 June, F[rancis] D[ov] Por, “One Hundred Years of Suez Canal—a Century of Lessepsian Migration: Retrospect and Viewpoints”, in Systematic Zoology, volume 20, number 2, Washington, D.C.: Society of Systematic Zoology, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 146, column 1; reprinted in Mark V. Lomolino, Dov F. Sax, and James H[emphill] Brown, editors, Foundations of Biogeography: Classic Papers with Commentaries, Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 2004, →ISBN, page 434:

The Middle East is an area of complex tectonic history through time, and this complexity is reflected in the biogeography of the region. Essentially, six historico-biogeographical 'strata' can be recognized among the crustaceans which inhabit the region. These are: [...] 6) Lessepsian migrants between the Mediterranean and Red Seas after the opening of the Suez Canal.

1986, F[rancis] D[ov] Por, “Crustacean Biogeography of the Late Middle Miocene Middle Eastern Landbridge”, in Robert H. Gore, Kenneth L. Heck, editors, Crustacean Biogeography (Crustacean Issues; 4), Rotterdam, Boston, Mass.: A[ugust] A[imé] Balkema, →ISBN, →ISSN, abstract, page 69:

After the construction of the waterway between the Eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf of Suez – the Suez Canal – in 1869, hundreds of Erythrean species traversed the channel and settled in the Mediterranean. This process is called Lessepsian migration, after Ferdinand Marie de Lesseps, the French diplomat and engineer who built the canal. Lessepsian migration is considered to be an important factor in the increase of Mediterranean fish diversity.

2004, Lovrenc Lipej, Jakov Dulčić, “The Current Status of Adriatic Fish Biodiversity”, in Huw I. Griffiths, Boris Kryštufek, Jane M. Reed, editors, Balkan Biodiversity: Pattern and Process in the European Hotspot, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, →ISBN, page 300:

However, while many necto-benthic and benthic Lessepsian fish are thriving, the inshore pelagic fish communities do not seem much affected by the dozen Lessepsian species inhabiting this area [...].

2007 April, M[ichel] Bariche, M. Sadek, M. S. Al-Zein, M. El-Fadel, “Diversity of Juvenile Fish Assemblages in the Pelagic Waters of Lebanon (Eastern Mediterranean)”, in Hydrobiologia: The International Journal of Aquatic Sciences, volume 580, number 1, The Hague, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 115; reprinted in G. Relini and J. Ryland, editors, Biodiversity in Enclosed Seas and Artificial Marine Habitats: Proceedings of the 39th European Marine Biology Symposium, Held in Genoa, Italy, 21–24 July 2004 (Developments in Hydrobiology; 193), Dordrecht: Springer, 2007, →ISBN, page 115, column 1:

Ongoing changes in biodiversity are presented as driven by the increasing influx of Lessepsian Indo-Pacific invaders, facilitated by the exponential growth of cargo shipping and the "tropicalization" of the Mediterranean.

2014, “Preface”, in Stefano Goffredo, Zvy Dubinsky, editors, The Mediterranean Sea: Its History and Present Challenges, Dordrecht, Heidelberg: Springer Science+Business Media, →DOI, →ISBN, page v:

(marine biology) Of or relating to organisms that migrate from the Red Sea to the eastern Mediterranean Sea by means of the Suez Canal.

lessepsien

of or relating to organisms that migrate by means of the Suez Canal


pseudotaxodont

(marine biology, of a bivalve) Having many irregular short teeth transverse to the hinge that are not ctenodont or pseudoctenodont forms.


taxodont

(marine biology, of a bivalve) Pertaining to a group of many short interlocking teeth, at least some of which are transverse to the hinge margin.


ctenodont

(marine biology, of a bivalve) Having hinges with many teeth transverse to the margin.


pseudoctenodont

(marine biology, of a bivalve) Having many short teeth transverse to the hinge margin in groups related to teeth that are longitudinally directed.


marine mammal

The influence of the temperature of the Gulf-stream upon animal life in the ocean is very curious. The whale so sedulously shuns its warm waters, as almost to indicate their track by its absence ; while yet abundantly found on each side of it. The physical reasons are doubtless the same which prevent this great marine mammal from ever crossing the equator from one hemisphere to the other — a fact now well ascertained.

1857 April, Philippe de Kerhallet, “The Atlantic Ocean”, in Edinburgh Review, volume CV, number CCXIV, page 371:

A mammal which lives partly or wholly in the ocean, or at least is heavily dependent on the ocean for its lifestyle; such as cetaceans, sirenians, seals, the sea otter or the polar bear.


food fall

food falls (plural)
food-fall (alternative)
foodfall (alternative)

Klages, Michael, Muyakshin, Sergey, Soltwedel, Thomas, Arntz, Wolf (2002 January 21) “Mechanoreception, a possible mechanism for food fall detection in deep-sea scavengers”, in Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, volume 49, number 1, →Bibcode, →DOI, pages 143–155: “The problem for any scavenger inhabiting the seafloor is the unpredictability both in space and time of food fall events.”

Klages, Michael, Vopel, Kay, Bluhm, Hartmut, brey, Thomas, Soltwedel, Thomas, Arntz, Wolf E. (2001 April 21) “Deep-sea food falls: first observation of a natural event in the Arctic Ocean”, in Polar Biology, volume 24, →DOI, pages 292–295: “We report and discuss the first observation of the processing of a natural food fall of smaller size in the deep sea.”

(marine biology) An event in which organic matter in the ocean sinks to the seafloor.


Sarsian

Of or relating to Georg Ossian Sars (1837–1927), Norwegian marine and freshwater biologist.


isobenth

The boundaries as well as the macro-epibenthic biomass distribution and composition of a North Adriatic benthic community […] were determined. […] The biomass values were used to establish isobenths. Within the community, the mean biomass, measured as wet weight, amounted to 370 (±73) g/m² with maxima of more than 1000 g/m². […] Biomass distribution and composition is examined, and the ecological function and meaning of the observed patterns is discussed.

1976, K. Fedra et al., “On the ecology of a North Adriatic benthic community: Distribution, standing crop and composition of the macrobenthos”, in Marine Biology, volume 38, pages 129–145:

(marine biology) An isoline connecting points on a map having equal amounts of benthic biomass.


sea star wasting disease

en-noun

sea star wasting disease (plural sea star wasting diseases)

sea star wasting diseases (plural)
seastar wasting disease (alternative)
sea-star wasting disease (alternative)

(marine biology) A disease of starfish and several other echinoderms appearing sporadically, causing mass mortality of those affected.

syndrome du dépérissement de l’étoile de mer


oyster-tecture

Coined by Kate Orff. Blend of oyster + architecture

The vision for oyster-tecture is to create a network of oyster reefs that interlink from Texas to Maine.

2012 May 30, Neil Chambers, “The Viability and Vision of Oyster-tecture”, in Metropolis:

Such is the potential that the concept of oyster-tecture – the use of oysters as an architectural resource – was developed by landscape architect Kate Orff and presented in a 2010 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

2016 November 17, Edward Helmore, “Oysters are making a comeback in the polluted waters around New York City”, in The Guardian:

The $60 million project, devised by landscape architect Kate Orff more than a decade ago and launched by the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, uses an approach that Orff has dubbed “oyster-tecture”: partially submerged mounds of rubble mingle with shell structures implanted with living larvae.

2021 November 19, Julia Hotz, “New York City Is Building a Wall of Oysters to Fend Off Floods”, in Bloomberg CityLab:

The use of oyster reefs to mitigate the effects of storm surge and rising sea levels and to filter polluted water.


wave washing

From wave + washing (“move or erode by the force of water”).

com

(marine biology) A form of hunting used by some pods of orcas to drive a prey animal (such as a seal) seeking refuge on a sheet of ice into the water, in which members of the pod swim together at high speed towards the sheet to create a powerful wave that breaks it up.