Coral Vocab AICE Marine

Cnidarians

Marine animals that capture food using stinging cells

Cnidocytes

Stinging cells that cover the tentacles of cnidarians

Polyp

Non-moving, cup-like life stage of cnidarians

Nematocysts

The harpoon-like organelle inside the cnidocyte that contains toxin to be delivered to the prey

Basal Plate

Lower part of the coral calyx that separate the polyp from the substrate

Calyx

The stony cup in which a coral polyp lives its life

Theca

The walls of the calyx

Hard corals

Stony corals capable of reef-building that have a relationship with zooxanthellae

Soft corals

Corals that do not build reefs and lack calcification

Zooxanthellae

Symbiotic, photosynthetic dinoflagellates living within the tissues of many invertebrates

Fringing Reef

A reef close to and surrounding newer volcanic islands or that borders continental landmasses

Barrier Reef

A reef separated by a lagoon from the land mass with which it is associated

Atoll

A coral reef somewhat circular in shape with a central lagoon

Patch reef

Small, isolated reef usually located within the lagoon of a barrier reef

Lagoon

A shallow, sheltered body of water with a soft sediment bottom

Reef erosion

When a coral loses more of its calcium carbonate skeleton per year than its gains

Bioerosion

Reef erosion caused by living organisms

Ocean acidification

A process where all the pH of the ocean is reduced over an extended period of time; generally attributed to a rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide

Climate change

Changes in global or regional climate patterns since the late twentieth century

Coral bleaching

Whitening of coral that results from the loss of a corals symbiotic zooxanthellae

Desiccation

The removal of moisture or drying out of an organism

Artificial reef

An underwater structure built by humans to mimic the characteristics of a natural reef