Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Internal anatomy of Hydra, representative of the phylum Cnidaria Cnidaria səlĕntəräˈtə [key], phylum of invertebrate animals comprising the sea anemones, corals, jellyfish, and hydroids....

(Encyclopedia) Tuamotu Archipelago to͞oämōˈto͞o [key] or Low Archipelago, coral island group (2002 pop. 14,876), South Pacific, part of French Polynesia. They comprise c.80 atolls in a 1,300-mi (2,092-km) chain...

(Encyclopedia) island, relatively small body of land surrounded entirely by water. (As the oceans form a continuous mass of water on the earth's surface, all continents are islands in the strict sense of the word.) ...

(Encyclopedia) sea snake, name for any of the venomous marine snakes of the family Hydrophidae, found in tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The sea snake's body is flattened laterally and its oarlike ...

(Encyclopedia) giant clam, common name for the largest bivalve mollusk in the world, Tridacna gigas, also known as the bear's paw clam. The giant clam may weigh over 500 lb (225 kg) and attain a length of over 4 ft ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Human skeleton skeleton, in anatomy, the stiff supportive framework of the body. The two basic types of skeleton found among animals are the exoskeleton and the endoskeleton. The shell of the ...

(Encyclopedia) South China Sea, western arm of the Pacific Ocean, c.1,000,000 sq mi (2,590,000 sq km), between the SE Asian mainland and Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo. It is connected with the East China Sea b...

(Encyclopedia) conch kŏngk, kŏnch, kôngk [key], common name for certain marine gastropod mollusks having a heavy, spiral shell, the whorls of which overlap each other. In conchs the characteristic gastropod foot ...

(Encyclopedia) Red Sea, ancient Sinus Arabicus or Erythraean Sea, narrow sea, c.170,000 sq mi (440,300 sq km), c.1,450 mi (2,330 km) long and up to 225 mi ...

(Encyclopedia) Land's End, promontory, Cornwall, SW England, forming the westernmost extremity of the English mainland. Of wave-carved granite, it has cliffs c.60 ft (20 m) high. Offshore are reefs and rocky islets,...