Science / Marine Biology Glossary

Estuarine Realms: Large coastal water regions that have geographic continuity,are bounded landward by a stretch of coastline with fresh-water input, and are bounded seaward by a salinity front

Estuary: A semienclosed body of water that has a free connection with the open sea and within which seawater is diluted measurably with freshwater that is derived from land drainage

Euphausiid: Member of an order of holoplanktonic crustacea

Eutrophic: Water bodies or habitats having high concentrations of nutrients

Eutrophication: Enrichment of a water body with nutrients, resulting in excessive growth of phytoplankton, seaweeds, or vascular plants, and often depletion of oxygen.

Evenness: The component of diversity accounting for the degree to which all species are equal in abundance, as opposed to strong dominance by one or a few species

Evolution: The process by which a species' structural and behavioural characteristics change over many generations, sometimes in response to changes in environmental conditions. 'New' species develop i . . . View Full Definition

Extinct: A species which no longer exists. The Stellar sea cow is an example of a species which once lived on the Pacific's East Coast and is now extinct. Compare extirpated.

Extirpated: A species no longer existing in Canada, but occurring elsewhere on Earth. Compare extinct.

Fecal Coliform Bacteria: Technically, all the facultative anaerobic gram negative non-spore forming rod shaped bacteria that fermet lactose in EC medium with gas production within 24h at 44.5 degrees C. A measure of . . . View Full Definition

Fecal Pellets: See Pellets

Fecundity: The number of eggs produced per female per unit time (often: per spawning season)

Fertilization: The joining or fusion of the male gamete (sperm) and the female gamete (egg) to form a zygote during sexual reproduction. See also gamete, zygote.

Foliose Coral: A coral whose skeletal form approximates that of a broad, flattened plate

Food Chain: A linear sequence of organisms that exist on successive trophic levels within a natural community, through which energy is transferred by feeding. Primary producers capture energy from the e . . . View Full Definition

Food Chain Efficiency: Amount of energy of some other quantity extracted from a trophic level, divided by the amount of energy produced by the next-lower trophic level

Food Web: A non-linear network of feeding between organisms that includes many food chains, and hence multiple organisms on each trophic level. For example, both sharks and tuna eat herring, and shark . . . View Full Definition

Foraminifera: Protozoan group, individuals of which usually secrete a calcareous test; both planktonic and benthic representatives

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