| Bacopa |
freshwater flowering plants of
the snapdragon family with rounded, succulent leaves; usually grown
from cuttings |
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|
| Badis |
a beautiful fish from India that has a single
species as its only representative; it feeds on small, meaty foods
in standing water with heavy vegetation |
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| Baitfish |
any of several small species sold for use
by anglers or trappers |
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| Balistapus |
triggerfish, Family Balistidae, including
the large, agressive undulated trigger, B. undulatus |
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| Balistes |
triggerfish, Family Balistidae, including the Atlantic queen trigger,
B. vetula |
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| Balistoides |
triggerfish, Family Balistadae, including the clown trigger, B.
conspicillum |
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| Ballast |
the transformer that boosts house current to the voltage required
for the operation of fluorescent or metal halide aquarium lighting
systems |
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| Barb |
any of numerous small freshwater carps that ar popular with hobbyists,
naturally ranging from Africa to Southeast Asia |
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| Barbels |
thin, fleshy appendages near the mouths of certain fish, notably
members of the carp and catfish families, that have a sensory function
|
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| Barbodes |
a general name for certain Asian cyprinids; used in older literature
but now considered invalid |
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| Barbus |
cyprinid fish, or barbs, from
Southeast Asia including several frequently kept in aquariums, such
as the clown barb, B. everetti |
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|
| Barclaya |
orchid lily, a member of the water lilly family
from Southeast Asia that produces a tosette of lance-shaped leaves
with ruffled edges; a red form is availabel for aquarium horticulture |
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| Bartholomea |
the sea aneomone commonly known as the Curlicue
Anemone, owing to the spiral arrangement of stinging cells around
its tentacles |
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| Base |
a chemical compound that acts as the acceptor
of electrons from an acid in neutralization reation; a solution with
a pH greater than 7.0 |
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|
| Basslet |
any of several marine fish, generally less than four inches in length,
in the sea bass family, Serranidae |
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| Batfish |
any member of the genus Platax, marine fish so named because of
their elongate, winglike dorsal, pectoral, and anal fins and dark
coloration |
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| Batophora |
a green marine alga that resembles
small bananas attached to a solid surface |
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| Battelaria |
small herbivorous snails found in abundance
on rocks near the tideline and sometimes imported for algae control
in marine aquariums |
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|
| Belly |
the Ventral protion of the body of a fish,
between the pectoral and anal fins |
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|
| Belontia |
combtails, Family Belontiidae, from Indonesia
and India; suitable for a planted aquarium and easily maintained |
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| Benthic |
bottom-dwelling organisms, or those that characteristically
live upon a solid substrate, such as rocks or corals |
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| Betta |
1) the popular Siamese fighting fish B. splendens;
related species are seldom seen in the aquarium trade
2) a synonym for "Siamese fighting fish," derived from the
scientific name |
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| Bilateral symmetry |
trait exhibited by organisims in which there
is only one body axis separating similar left and right sides, as
in all vertebrate and many invertebrate groups |
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| Bioaccumulation |
the concentration of a chemical substance,
such as mercury, at successively higher levels in a food web, or in
a individual species |
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| Bioball |
a spherical plastic object, available in variuos
designs, intended for colonization by nitrifying bacteria in a biological
filtration system |
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| Biodiversity |
the total of all living species found with
an ecosystem |
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| Biogenic |
referring to any substance created as a result
of the activities of living organisms, for example, petroleum or atmospheric
oxygen |
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| Biolimiting |
said of any factor that prevents the growth
of an organism if in short supply |
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| Bioload |
in an aquarium, the demand placed upon the
life-support system as a result of the metabolism of all the organisms
present within the tank |
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| Bioluminescent |
said of any living organism that produces
light; numerous invertebrate and microbial groups have this capacity;
in fish, bioluminescence may result from symbiotic bacteria or may
be produced by specialized tissues |
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| Biomass |
the total amount by weight of living organisms
within a specified area |
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| Biotin |
a nutrient needed for fatty acid systhesis
in plants and animals; essential for photosynthesis |
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| Biotope |
a specific portion of an ecosystem, defined
by the physical conditions and types of organisms usually found, and
generally limited in extent, geographically; aquariums are frequently
designed to represent a particular biotope |
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| Biowheel |
a rotating pleated structure over which a
stream of water is directed as part of a biological filtration system,
and upon which nitrifying bacteria grow |
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| Black band disease |
a pathological condition observed in stony
corals, both in aquariums and in the ocean, thought to be caused by
cyanobacteria |
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| Blacklight |
ultraviolet light, having a wavelength between
100 and 380 nanometers |
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| Blackworm |
an aquatic annelid about 2 inches (5.1 cm)
in length that is sold alive as fish food |
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|
| Blastomussa |
stony corals with large polyps and interesting
coloration that make them popular with minireef enthusiasts |
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| Blastula |
a hollow ball of cells formed by the repeated
division of a zygote |
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| Bleaching |
a condition in which the zooxanthellae are
lost, rendering the host cnidarian white in color |
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|
| Blennius |
small marine fish, Family Blennidae; often
imported for minireef aquariums |
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| Blenny |
common name for any member of the Family Blennidae |
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| Body depth |
the maximum distance measured perpendicular
to the head-to-tail axis of a fish |
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| Bog |
a constantly moist terrestrial habitat characterized
by the presence of sphagnum mosses and acid peat, in which certain
wetland plants naturally grow |
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| Bolbitis |
aquatic ferns native to Africa |
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| Bolbometapon |
parrotfish, Family Scaridae, marine species
that bite off chuncks of living coral |
|
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| Boron |
a chemical element required in trace amounts
by many types of living organisms |
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| Botia |
genus from Southeast Asia containing severalspecies
of loaches ideal for freshwater aquariums |
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|
| Box filter |
a simple device for aquarium water purification,
usually placed inside the tank, using an airlift to draw water though
polyester fiber or other media enclosed within it |
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|
| Boxfish |
any member of the Ostraciidae, a family of
marine fish in which the body is enclosed in a series of interlocking
bony plates that provide protection |
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|
| Brachionus |
the marine rotifer most often cultured for
feeding newly hatched fish larvae |
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|
| Brachiopod |
bivalved invertebrates with unequal shells
that are found attached to rocks in marine habitats |
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|
| Brachydanio |
the zebra danio; a carplike fish popular with
freshwater hobbyists for decades, and its close relatives |
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|
| Brackish |
describing water that is less salty than seawater,
but not yet fresh, as occurs naturally in estuaries |
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| Branchlet |
the outermost extension of the body of any
organism with a treelike growth form |
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| Breast |
in the fish, portion of the ventral body surface
lying between the isthmus and the insertion point of the pelvic fins
|
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| Breeding |
successful spawning and rearing of offspring
of any variety of aquarium fish; frequently the goal of an advanced
hobbyist |
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| Briereum |
soft corals that lack skeletal elements and
that encrust solid substrates; popular with minireef enthusiasts due
to their rapid growth rate |
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|
| Brine Shrimp |
Artemia salina and its close relatives, crustaceans
often used as food for both freshwater and marine aquarium inhabitants |
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| Bristle |
short, thick, hairlike epidermal outgrowths,
often pointed on the distal end, and sometimes hollow and venomous;
found on certain marine annelids |
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| Bristleworm |
marine annelids with setae, or bristles, along
the length of the body; generally considered an aquarium pest because
some species feed on corals |
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|
| Brittlestar |
any member of the echinoderm class Ophiuroidea,
in which there are multiple arms, usually five, extending radially
from a central, disk-shaped body; the name derives from the ease with
which some species are damaged by handling |
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| Bromide |
ionic form of the element bromine (Br-), required
in small amounts by many types of organisms |
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| Brood |
a group of sibling offspring arising from a clutch of eggs of any
species of fish or invertebrate |
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|
| Brood pouch |
a specialized invagination of the abdomen of the male seahorse,
in which fertilized eggs develop and are nourished by a placentalike
structure |
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|
| Brooklynella |
a protozoan parasite infesting the epidermis of marine fish, especially
those in the genus Amphiprion, commonly known as "clownfish disease";
the condition is abetted by crowding and poor water conditions, but
often responds to treatment with medications containing malachite
green |
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| Bryozoan |
any member of the Phylum Bryozoa, filter-feeding marine invertebrates
with an encrusting growth form typically found on live rock; the few
freshwater species are of no interest to aquarium hobbyists |
|
|
| Bubble nest |
a floating raft of air bubbles and sometimes aquatic plants, held
together by an oral secretion, in which the eggs of some fish are
placed for incubation and are gaurded by the male parent |
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| Budding |
a form of reproduction in certian corals and anemones, in which
fully formed offspring are formed as an outgrowth of the body of the
parent organism |
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| Buffer |
a solution of chemical compounds and water that resists a change
pH when either acid or alkali is added |
| |
|
| Bunocephalus |
South American catfish whose body shape has given rise to the common
name "banjo catfish" |
| |
|
| Butterflyfish |
any fish of the marine Family Chaetodontidae, found exclusively
in association with coral reefs; many are delicate and difficult to
feed, but a few species make excellent aquarium subjects; a single
freshwater species, Pantodon bucholzi, though unrelated, is commonly
known as the "African butterflyfish" |
