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Biodiversity & Conservation

Growth form

Definition
Accretion Build up or accumulation of sediment.
Algal gravel Maerl; twig-like unattached (free-living) calcareous red algae, often a mixture of species and including species which form a spiky cover on loose small stones - 'hedgehog stones'.
Arborescent / Arbuscular Having the shape or characteristics of a tree.
Articulate Jointed, arthrous (Holmes, 1979).
Bivalved Characteristically a shell of two calcareous valves joined by a flexible ligament.
Boring Makes an excavation (through physical or chemical action) in which to live.
Bullate / Saccate Balloon or sac-like (Prescott, 1969).
Capitate / Clubbed Enlarged or swollen at the apex, with a ‘head’, clubbed. (Prescott, 1969).
Clathrate Latticed (Holmes, 1979).
Conical Cone shaped e.g. Limpet -shaped, patelliform, (adapted from Stachowitsch, 1992).
Crustose hard Forming or resembling a crust (Thompson, 1995) that is solid or resistant to touch or pressure e.g. the encrusting coralline algae or sea mats such as Umbonula littoralis.
Crustose soft Forming or resembling a crust (Thompson, 1995) that yields to the touch or pressure e.g. the gelatinous colonies of B otryllus schlosseri or soft cushions of sponges such as Halichondria sp.
Cushion A mass or pillow of soft material.
Cylindrical With straight sides and a circular section (Thompson, 1995).
Dendroid Branching irregularly – similar to that of a root system (Prescott, 1969).
Digitate Having parts arranged like fingers on a hand (Holmes, 1979).
Faunal beds Dense aggregation of animals that visually dominate the seabed or shore such as brittlestars (e.g. Ophiothrix fragilis ) or mussels (e.g. Mytilus edulis).
Filiform / Filamentous Slender and thread-like (Kozloff, 1996).
Flabellate Shaped like a fan, fanlike (Brusca, 1980).
Flaccid Soft, limp, flabby (Brusca, 1980).
Foliose Bearing leaves or leaf-like structures; having the appearance of a leaf.
Forest A dense stand of large plants in which the upper branches (trees) or laminae (macroalgae) overlap to form a canopy that shades the under story of flora and fauna.
Funnel shaped In the shape of a funnel.
Globose Spherical / ovoid / globular (Brusca, 1980).
Lanceolate Lance shaped and usually elongate (Brusca, 1980).
Massive Bulky (Homes, 1979).
Mat A dense mass which blankets the substratum.
Medusiform / Medusoid Disk, bell or umbrella shaped and often gelatinous (Barnes et al., 1988).
Penicillate Brush like (Prescott ,1969).
Pinnate Branching like a feather – an elongate main axis with lateral branches or lobes (Prescott, 1969).
Pisciform Fishlike.
Symmetrical about any plane passed perpendicular to the oral/aboral axis (Barnes et al., 1993).
Reticulate In the form of a mesh or net (Prescott, 1969).
Shrub Having a very short stem with branches near the ground (Thompson, 1995).
Stellate Arranged like a star.
Strap-like / Ribbon-like In the form of a strap or ribbon.
Tadpole Having the body form of a tadpole i.e. consisting of a round head with a tail.
Tubicolous Tube dwelling (Barnes et al., 1993).
Turbinate Whorled (Brusca, 1980).
Turf The lowest stratum of erect branching or filiform species.
Vermiform annulated Wormlike where the external surface is divided into a chain of rings or 'annuli' by furrows giving the appearance of segments (Barnes et al., 1993).
Vermiform segmented Wormlike with the body divided into semi-independent, serially repeated units (Barnes et al., 1993) e.g. Annelida.
Vermiform unsegmented Wormlike but lacking true segments although annuli may be present, e.g. roundworms (Nematoda) and ribbon worms (Nemertea).
Whip-like In the form of a whip.

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