Marine Biology - Introductory

Dive into this list of marine biology terms and learn all about the creatures that live in the oceans and seas. You'll explore a fascinating underwater world that's home to algae, whales, coral reefs, and more. Just watch out for sharks!
62 words 381 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adaptation
    the process of adjusting or conforming to new conditions
  2. algae
    primitive chlorophyll-containing aquatic organisms
  3. anemone
    a marine polyp that resembles a flower
  4. baleen
    a horny material from the upper jaws of certain whales
  5. barnacle
    marine crustacean with feathery food-catching appendages
  6. barrier reef
    a long coral reef near and parallel to the shore
  7. biodiversity
    the variety of plant and animal life in a habitat
  8. bioluminescence
    luminescence produced by physiological processes
  9. bivalve
    a sea creature with two connected hinged shells
  10. blubber
    an insulating layer of fat under the skin of some animals
  11. bony fish
    any fish of the class Osteichthyes
  12. buoyancy
    the tendency to float in water or other liquid
  13. carnivore
    a terrestrial or aquatic flesh-eating mammal
  14. cartilage
    tough elastic tissue, mostly converted to bone in adults
  15. community
    group of interdependent organisms living in the same region
  16. coral
    a very small ocean creature that often forms reefs
  17. coral reef
    a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone
  18. crustacean
    mainly aquatic arthropod usually having a segmented body
  19. dorsal fin
    unpaired median fin on the backs of fishes and some other aquatic vertebrates that help to maintain balance
  20. ecosystem
    organisms interacting with their physical environment
  21. endangered
    in imminent threat of extinction
  22. environment
    the area in which something exists or lives
  23. estuary
    the wide part of a river where it nears the sea
  24. extinct
    no longer in existence
  25. fin
    organ of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals
  26. food chain
    community of organisms where each member is eaten by another
  27. food web
    community of organisms with several interrelated food chains
  28. gill
    organ allowing aquatic animals to obtain oxygen from water
  29. habitat
    the type of environment in which an organism normally lives
  30. herbivore
    any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants
  31. invertebrate
    any animal lacking a backbone or notochord
  32. jellyfish
    a marine animal with a bulbous body and long tentacles
  33. kelp
    large brown seaweeds having fluted leathery fronds
  34. larva
    immature form of an animal between the egg and adult stages
  35. lateral line
    sense organs of fish and amphibians
  36. mammal
    a warm-blooded vertebrate having the skin covered with hair
  37. manatee
    sirenian mammal of tropical coastal waters of America
  38. mollusk
    aquatic invertebrate, often with a shell
  39. niche
    status or place of an organism within its environment
  40. octopus
    bottom-living cephalopod having a soft oval body with eight long tentacles
  41. pectoral fin
    either of a pair of fins situated just behind the head in fishes that help control the direction of movement
  42. plankton
    aggregate of small organisms that float or drift in water
  43. pollution
    contamination of the natural environment
  44. predator
    any animal that lives by preying on other animals
  45. prey
    animal hunted or caught for food
  46. radial symmetry
    the property of symmetry about an axis
  47. regeneration
    growth anew of lost tissue or destroyed parts or organs
  48. salinity
    the relative proportion of salt in a solution
  49. scale
    a rigid plate forming part of the body covering of animals
  50. seaweed
    plant growing in the sea, especially marine algae
  51. shark
    any of numerous elongate mostly marine carnivorous fishes with heterocercal caudal fins and tough skin covered with small toothlike scales
  52. species
    taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
  53. sponge
    primitive multicellular marine animal whose porous body is supported by a fibrous skeletal framework; usually occurs in sessile colonies
  54. squid
    widely distributed fast-moving ten-armed cephalopod mollusk having a long tapered body with triangular tail fins
  55. starfish
    a marine animal with five pointed arms
  56. stingray
    large venomous ray with large barbed spines near the base of a thin whiplike tail capable of inflicting severe wounds
  57. swim bladder
    an air-filled sac near the spinal column in many fishes that helps maintain buoyancy
  58. tentacle
    a flexible appendage adapted for grasping or feeling
  59. turtle
    any of various aquatic and land reptiles having a bony shell and flipper-like limbs for swimming
  60. vertebrate
    animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton
  61. water pollution
    pollution of the water in rivers and lakes
  62. whale
    largest mammal with a streamlined body and a blowhole
Created on Sat Feb 04 20:38:36 EST 2017 (updated Tue Apr 04 08:55:04 EDT 2017)

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.