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Mesophotic Coral Reef
A mesophotic coral reef or mesophotic coral ecosystem (MCE), originally from the Latin word ''meso'' (meaning middle) and ''photic'' (meaning light), is characterized by the presence of both light-dependent coral and algae, and organisms that can be found in water with low light penetration. Mesophotic coral ecosystems occur at depths beyond those typically associated with coral reefs as the mesophotic ranges from brightly lit to some areas where light does not reach. Mesophotic coral ecosystem (MCEs) is a new, widely adopted term used to refer to mesophotic coral reefs, as opposed to other similar terms like "deep coral reef communities" and "twilight zone", since those terms sometimes are confused due to their unclear, interchangeable nature. Many species of fish and corals are endemic to the MCEs making these ecosystems a crucial component in maintaining global diversity. Recently, there has been increased focus on the MCEs as these reefs are a crucial part of the coral reef syst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxonomy
image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation of things to the classes (classification). Originally, taxonomy referred only to the Taxonomy (biology), classification of organisms on the basis of shared characteristics. Today it also has a more general sense. It may refer to the classification of things or concepts, as well as to the principles underlying such work. Thus a taxonomy can be used to organize species, documents, videos or anything else. A taxonomy organizes taxonomic units known as "taxa" (singular "taxon"). Many are hierarchy, hierarchies. One function of a taxonomy is to help users more easily find what they are searching for. This may be effected in ways that include a library classification system and a Taxonomy for search e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the Division (taxonomy), division Selachii and are the sister group to the Batoidea, Batomorphi (Batoidea, rays and skate (fish), skates). Some sources extend the term "shark" as an informal category including Extinction, extinct members of Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) with a shark-like morphology, such as hybodonts. Shark-like chondrichthyans such as ''Cladoselache'' and ''Doliodus'' first appeared in the Devonian Period (419–359 million years), though some fossilized chondrichthyan-like scales are as old as the Ordovician, Late Ordovician (458–444 million years ago). The earliest confirmed modern sharks (Selachii) are known from the Early Jurassic around , with the oldest known member being ''Agaleus'', though records of true shar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis ( ) is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism. ''Photosynthesis'' usually refers to oxygenic photosynthesis, a process that produces oxygen. Photosynthetic organisms store the chemical energy so produced within intracellular organic compounds (compounds containing carbon) like sugars, glycogen, cellulose and starches. To use this stored chemical energy, an organism's cells metabolize the organic compounds through cellular respiration. Photosynthesis plays a critical role in producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere, and it supplies most of the biological energy necessary for complex life on Earth. Some bacteria also perform anoxygenic photosynthesis, which uses bacteriochlorophyll to split hydrogen sulfide as a reductant instead of water, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion, especially in the context of rank-based (" Linnaean") nomenclature (much less so under phylogenetic nomenclature). If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping. Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were presumably set forth in prehistoric times by hunter-gatherers, as suggested by the fairly sophisticated folk taxonomies. Much later, Aristotle, and later st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fecundity
Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the capability to produce offspring, measured by the number of gametes (eggs), seed set, or asexual propagules. Human demography Human demography considers only human fecundity, at its culturally differing rates, while population biology studies all organisms. The term ''fecundity'' in population biology is often used to describe the rate of offspring production after one time step (often annual). In this sense, fecundity may include both birth rates and survival of young to that time step. While levels of fecundity vary geographically, it is generally a consistent feature of each culture. ''Fecundation'' is another term for fertilization. In obstetrics and gynecology, fecund-ability is the probability of being pregnant in a single menstrual cycle, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acropora Tenella
''Acropora tenella'' is a species of acroporid coral found in the central Indo-Pacific, southeast Asia, Japan, the East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ... and the oceanic western Pacific Ocean. It occurs on lower slopes of reefs at depths of . Taxonomy It was described by Brook in 1892 as ''Madrepora tenella''. It is also known under its synonym of ''Acropora eibli'', which it was described under by Pillai and Scheer in 1976. Description It occurs in colonies with plate-like structures arranged horizontally. Its branches are flattened and often diverge; they often contain broad central ridges. Its axial corallites are distinct; it has radial corallites that are distinct and are laterally present on some older branches but are generally placed irregularly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porites Astreoides
''Porites astreoides'', commonly known as mustard hill coral or yellow porites, is a Colony (biology), colonial species of Scleractina, stony coral in the Family (biology), family Poritidae. It is a common species in the Caribbean Sea and western tropical Atlantic Ocean in North, Central, and South America; and the eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean in western Africa. Description When it grows in fast-flowing, shallow water, ''Porites astreoides'' is encrusting but in calmer water at medium depths it is a massive coral with a smooth, mounded, semi-spherical form and can grow to in diameter. At greater depths it is usually plate-like and in caves and under overhangs the plates are angled to receive the maximum amount of light. It is the only species within the genus ''Porites'' not to have a finger-like form. The corallites are small and tightly-packed and give the coral a porous appearance. The polyp (zoology), polyps each have six tentacles and are generally retracted during the d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crab
Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropod anatomy), thorax. Their exoskeleton is often Sclerotization, thickened and hard. They generally have Arthropod leg, five pairs of legs, and they have "Pincers (tool), pincers" or "claws" on the ends of the frontmost pair, scientifically termed the ''chelae''. They are present in all the world's oceans, Freshwater crab, in freshwater, and Terrestrial crab, on land, often hiding themselves in small crevices or burrowing into sediment. Crabs are omnivores, feeding on a variety of food, including a significant proportion of Algae eater, algae, as well as Detritivore, detritus and other invertebrates. Crab meat, Crabs are widely consumed by humans as food, with over 1.5 million tonnes Crab fisheries, caught annually. True crabs first appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symbiodinium
''Symbiodinium'' is a genus of dinoflagellates that encompasses the largest and most prevalent group of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates known and have photosymbiotic relationships with many species. These unicellular microalgae commonly reside in the endoderm of tropical cnidarians such as corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish, where the products of their photosynthesis, photosynthetic processing are exchanged in the host for inorganic molecules. They are also harbored by various species of demosponges, flatworms, mollusks such as the giant clams, foraminifera (Soritoidea, soritids), and some ciliates. Generally, these dinoflagellates enter the host cell through phagocytosis, persist as intracellular symbionts, reproduce, and disperse to the environment. The exception is in most mollusks, where these symbionts are intercellular (between the cells). Cnidarians that are associated with ''Symbiodinium'' occur mostly in warm oligotrophic (nutrient-poor), Marine habitats, marine environmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alveopora
''Alveopora'' is a genus of colonial stony corals in the family Acroporidae. Members of this genus are native to the Indo-Pacific region and are often found on reef slopes in turbid water. They are generally uncommon. Characteristics ''Alveopora'' has a very light and porous skeleton consisting of interconnecting rods and spines. The colonies are either massive or branching and often have irregular shapes. The corallites have walls that are very perforated and septa that are mostly composed of fine spines which may meet in the centre forming a tangle of the columella. The polyps are large and fleshy and are normally extended both day and night. They have twelve tentacles, often with swollen knob-like tips. They have symbiotic zooxanthellae Zooxanthellae (; zooxanthella) is a colloquial term for single-celled photosynthetic organisms that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including corals, jellyfish, demosponges, and nudibranchs. Most known zoox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez—leading to the Suez Canal. It is underlain by the Red Sea Rift, which is part of the Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea has a surface area of roughly , is about long, and wide at its widest point. It has an average depth of , and in the central Suakin Trough, it reaches its maximum depth of . Approximately 40% of the Red Sea is quite shallow at less than deep and about 25% is less than deep. The extensive shallow shelves are noted for their marine life and corals. More than 1,000 invertebrate species and 200 types of soft and hard coral live in the sea. The Red Sea is the world's northernmost tropical sea and has been designated a Global 200 ecoregion. Extent The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
