Definition: overall repetitive or reflective pattern in the body of one individual of this taxon. eg: bilateral symmetry, rotational symmetry, radial symmetry
Definition: Living in the fluid medium (water or air) but unable to maintain their position or distribution independently of the movement of the water/air mass (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998).
Definition: Seagrass beds are highly diverse and productive ecosystems, and can harbour hundreds of associated species from all phyla. They partly create their own habitat: the leaves slow down water-currents increasing sedimentation, and the seagrass roots and rhizomes stabilize the seabed.
Definition: The marine benthic biome (benthic meaning 'bottom') encompasses the seafloor and includes such areas as shores, littoral or intertidal areas, marine coral reefs, and the deep seabed.
Definition: Component found in mineralized skeletal tissue, (a specialized form of biogenic tissue in which the extracellular matrix is mineralized, and which functions in mechanical and structural support.)
Definition: Hard framework, internal or external, which supports and protects softer parts of plant, animal or unicellular organism, and to which muscles usually attach in animals, includes skeletons (derived from Lawrence, 2005).
Definition: A compound eye with no separation between the crystalline-cone layer and the retinula, each rhabdom receiving light only from its own corneal lens.
