Key Vocabulary
Bioluminescence - the biochemical emission of light by living organisms such as fireflies and deep-sea fishes
Vertical migration - the synchronised movement of zooplankton and fish up and down in the water column over a daily cycle.
“Marine snow” - a continuous shower of mostly organic detritus falling from the upper layers of the water column.
Camouflage - the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see or disguising them as something else
Chemoautotroph - an organism, typically a bacterium, which derives energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds.
Filter Feeding - (of an aquatic animal) feeding by filtering out plankton or nutrients suspended in the water
Seamount - a submarine mountain.
Hydrothermal Vent - a fissure on the seafloor from which geothermally heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at spreading centers, ocean basins, and hotspots.