Definitions - C

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Cabomba	Vinelike aquatic plants with feathery, dark green foliage and tiny white flowers borne at the surface; they require very bright light to thrive under aquarium conditions
Calcareous	having calcium carbonate incorporated into a body structure, such as skeletal into a body structure, such as skeletal elements or a shell
Calcification	1) the process by which calcium carbonate is incorporated into the body structure of a living organism; 2) the deposition of calcium carbonate as a mineral through chemical processes taking place in aquatic habitats
Calcinus	hermit crabs popular with hobbyists because of their small size and bright coloration; usually; added to the marine aquarium for algae control
Calcium Carbonate	CaCO3, a crystalline solid, insoluble in water, incorporated into supportive or protective structures in many animal and plant species
Calcium Reactor	a device for increasing the content of calcium ions in the water of a marine aquarium that functions by passing acidified water over pieces of calcium carbonate containing materals such as shell fragments
Calcium Supplement	any chemical added to a marine aquarium to increase the calcium content of the water
Calliactis	an anemone occuring along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States; often found attached to the shell inhabited by a hermit crab
Calloplesiops	comet groupers, sea basses with nocturnal habits and flowing fins that have been propagated successfully in the aquarium
Calyx	1) botanically, the portion of a flower that supports the petals and is comprised of the sepals; 2) zoologically, the cuplike structure of a colonial coral from which the individusl plolyp protrudes and into which it can usually be withdrawn
Canines	fangs found in many vertebrates, including some fish, and used for piercing and holding prey; generally, these teeth are best developed in carnivorous species
Canister Filter	an aquarium filter in which the media are enclosed in a plastic can located exernal to the tank, with water entering and leaving the can through hoses leading to and from the aquarium
Capoeta	cyprinids of Europe and western Asia, of limited intrest to specialized aquarium hobbyists; the name is sometimes incorrectly applied to other cyprinids in the aquarium trade.
Carapace	the exoskeleton covering all or part of the dorsal surface of a crustacean, or the shell of a turtle
Carapus	the pearl fish, rarely imported for the aquarium, that lives in the gut of the sea cucumber emerging at night to feed on small invertebrates
Carassius	the common goldfish and all its many aquarium and pond varieties
Carbon Dioxide	a colorless, orderless gas (co2), formes along with water during food metabolism by the majority of living organisms; accumulation in aquarium water is to be avoided because of toxic effects on fish; it is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis and eliminated by aeration and buffering
Carbonic acid	the compound that results when carbon dioxide disolves in water
Carboy	a large bottle, useful for the storage and dispensing of chemicals or for culturing certain types of aquarium foods
Cardamine	a freshwater angiosperm known as Chinese ivy, usually grown from rooted stem cuttings
Carnegiella	hatchetfish, surface-dwelling South American characins that can actually "fly" short distances in pursuit of insect prey.
Carnivore	an organism that feeds principally upon animals
Carotenoid	one of several yellow colored organic molecules important in pigment development and cellular metabolish, such as vitamin A
Cartilage	a tough, flexible tissue containing the protein collagen that forms all of the skeletal system of elasmobranch fish and a protion of the skeletal structure of all other vertebrate animals
Cassiopeia	upside-down sea jellies; schyphozoan cnidarians that orient themselves upside down to expose their symbiotic algae to sunlight
Catalaphyllia	a single species, C jardinieri, called "elegance coral" by minireef enthusiasts; its geographical range is restricted to the Coral Sea near Indonesia
Catfish	one of a large number of species in several families sharing the traits of elongated sensory barbels, a scaleless skin sometimes protected by bony plates, and usually a bottomdwelling habbit
Cations	atoms or molecules that bear a positive charge resulting from the loss of one or more electrons
Catkin	an inflorescence produced by certain angiosperms, so named because of the superficial resemblance to a cat's tail
Caudal fin	the tail fin of a fish, used primarily for locomotion in the majority of species
Caudal Peduncle	the fleshy posterior portion of a fish's body to which the caudal fin is attached
Caudal Peduncle scale count	the number of scales along a imaginary line encircling the most slender protion of this region
Caulastrea	trumpet coral, a stony coral of easy culture in marine reef aquarium
Caulerpa	macroscopic green marine algae often cultivated in hobbyist aquariums, and characteristically possessing an upright, leafy portion arising from a runner that grows over or through a substrate; worldwide in distribubtion
Cenrarchus	sunfish of North America, Family Centrarchidae, several species of which adapt easily to aquarium care
Centriscus	shrimpfish, Family Centriscidae, often found swimming snout downward among the spines of sea urchins, feeding upon plankton; exhibited in specialized aquariums as curiosity
Centropyge	dwarf marine angelfish with approximately 15 species imported for the aquarium trade; moderately easy to keep, requiring a diet rich in vegetable matter; these fish often spawn in hobbyist tanks but to date have not been successfully reared to maturity
Cephalopod	a member of the molluscan slassCephalopoda, including octopus, squid, argonauts, and chambered nautilus
Cephalothorax	the anterior portion of the body of a crustacean to which the feeding appendages and antennae are attached
Cerata	outgrowths of the body of certain species of nudibranchs, or sea slugs, that function variously in camouflage, defense, or nutrition; some slugs mearly resemble their prey organism in appearance, while others commandeer stinging or photosynthetic cells, transferring therm to these structures for the slug's subswquent use
Ceratophyllum	hornworts, common and hardy floating plants for freshwater aquariums and ponds
Ceratopteris	floating or rooted freshwater ferns that are popular aquarium plants, able to produce plantlets from the margins of larger leaves
Cerebrum	the portion of the vertebrate brain responsible for sensory perception and voluntary movement, as well as higher congnitive functions
Cerianthus	a tube-dwelling cnidarian superficially resembling a sea anemone; sometimes imported for the aquarium; predatory on fishes
Cespitularia	stoloniferan soft corals with branched colonies
Cetoscarus	one of several genera of parrotfish, Family Scaridae, imported for aquarium exhibition
Chaca	flattened, nocturnal, predatory catfish of India and Southeast Asia, with undemanding aquariums needs
Chaetodon	type genus of the butterflyfish family,Chaetodontidae, a marine group found only in association with coral reefs; a few species make good aquarium specimens, although the majority do not adapt well to captive conditions
Chalceus	predatory South American characins with silvery scales and often a bright pink tail fin
Channa	snakeheads, predatory freshwater fish from southern China and India exhibited alone in large aquariums
Characin	any fish in the Family Characide, some sommonly called tetras; found in South America and Africa, they vary greatly in size, appearance, and ecology
Cheek row scale count	the number of scales along an imaginary line connecting the eye to the anterior edge of the gill cover
Cheirodon	small South American characin; the cardinal tetra, a popular fish for the community freshwater tank, originally assigned to this genus, now is known as Paracheirodon axelrodi
Chelae	singular: chela; the often enlarged anterior appendages, or "pincers," of crustaceans and arachnids
Chelmon	a popular marine species with an orange-and-white-banded pattern; the copperband butterflyfish, C. rostratus, feeds with its elongated snout on small invertebrates
Chemical attractants	compounds relased into the water that stimulate another organism or cell to move toward the releasing organism or cell: females may release an attractant for sperm cells of the same species, for example
Chemical defenses	compounds that effect protection upon their possessor, including poison, secreted within the body, venom, a poison introduced into another organism, or substaqnces that mask the organism's presence from a predator
Chemical filtration	the removal of dissolved compounds from aquarium water by foam fractionation or adsorption on various media
Chemoreceptors	specialized cells or subcellular components recognizing specific types of chemical signals, as in the olfactory epithelium of fish, or on the antennae of crustaceans
Chilodonella	a ciliated protozoan parasite of freshwater fish, usually of coldwater species such as goldfish, that destroys epithelial tissue and is often fatal if untreated
Chitin	a tough, proteinaceous material found abundantly in the external skeleton of arthropods; also occurs in such diverse organisms as fungi and mollusks
Chiton	any of nemerous species of primitive mollusks characterized by a shell consisting of a series of eight calcified plates, Class Amphineura; most species attach themselves to a solid substrate and move about at night to graze on algae
Chlamys	bivalved mollusks with circular, roughsurfaced shells sometimes attached to live rock specimens collected for marine reef aquariums
Chloramine	a chemical often used in the treatment of municipal water supplies that must be removed from aquarium water by activated carbon treatment or by addition of an appropriate counteracting chemical
Chlorella	a unicellular green marine alga often cultured as a food for inverterbrates or fish larvae
Chlorine remover	usually sodium thiosulfate, or any chemical agent employed to eliminate toxic chlorine from municipal tap water before using it in an aquarium
Chlorophyll	one of a group of green pigments that permit photosynthetic organisms to utilize the energy of sunlight for food production
Chloroplast	a subcellular structure found in photosynthetic organisms containing chlorophyll and in which photosynthesis takes place
Chlorotic	a condition seen in vascular plants receiving insufficent iron, in which the leaf veins are bright green while the remainder of the leaf turns yellow
Choanocyte	a cell with a characteristic collar surrounding its single flagellum found in sponges; it traps microscopic food from the water passing through the porous body
Chondrilla	chicken liver sponge, a common, easily cultivated species found on rocks from Florida and the Caribbean
Chordate	a member of Phlyum Chordata, characterized by the presence of a stiffening rod of cartilage, the notochord; in vertebrates the notochord is present in the embryo and inreplaced by the vertebral column
Chromidotilapia	territorial West African cichlids that can be maintained in planted aquariums, unlike many members of their family
Chromis	marine pomacentrid fish typically living in large shoals and feeding on planktonic organisms; several species are regularly imported and can be successfully maintained in aquariums
Chrysiptera	a pomacentrid genus represented by the popular orange-tailed blue damselfish, C. cyanea
Cichlasoma	Central American cichlids of moderate size; the genus is currently undergoing taxonomic revision
Cichlid	any member of the large freshwater fish Family Cichlidae, distributed from Central and South American to Africa and Asia; a wide variety of feeding and habitat preferences may be found in this group, but the numerous species are united by anatomical similarities and extensive parental care of the eggs and young
Cilia	numerous short, hairlike projections from the cells of certain protists and the epithelial cells of many types of amimals; their rhythmic beating sets up water currents utilized by the organism for movement or food capture, or both
Ciliary	of or having to do with the cilia, as in "ciliary movement creats water currents"
Ciliate	a protist bearing cilia
Circumtropical	referring to the distribution of a species or phenomenon that may be found worldwide between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
Cirrhilabrus	sosal wrasses, Family Labridae, marine fish that are usually found in small shoals consisting of a single, dominant male and several juvenile males and females; numerous, brilliantly colored species are popular with advanced hobbyists
Cirrhipectes	IndoPacific blennies, Family Blennidae, characterized by a row of cirri on the nape, often found on surf-swept ridges among algae or branching corals; herbivorous species are sutable for minireef aquariums
Cirri	singular, cirrus; short bristlelike projections from the epidermis of certain invertebrates and fish; in blennies, the cirri are often referred to as "eyelashes"
Cladiella	an alcyonarian type of soft coral frequently maintained by minireef enthusiasts
Clarias	the walking catfish, C. batrachus, once imported as a novelty for freshwater aquariums; it has become a pest species in Florida because of its ability to move overland from one lake or pond to another
Clavularia	encrusting, stoloniferan soft corals readily propagated in a minireef aquarium
Cleaner	a marine fish or invertebrate that characteristically removes parasitic organisms and dead tissue from the skin of fish that present themselves ant the animal's cleaning station, "often in response to a ritualized "dance" carried out by the cleaner; the phenomenon is sometimes called "cleaning symbiosis," since the cleaner typically feeds on the material it removes from the fish
Clibanarius	marine hermit crabs of the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean; the most popular species is the tiny blue-leg hermit, C tricolor, kept in marine tanks for algae control
Clonal	referring to the asexual reproduction of a single individual, producing offspring that are genetically identical to the parent
Clownfish	originally, referring only to Amphiprion ocellaris, but now any of the pomacentrid fish that associate with sea anemones, also known as "anemonefish"
Clutch	a mass or cluster of eggs deposited by a fish or invertebrate, often but not always receiving protective care from one or both parents
Cnidarian	any member of Phylum Cnidaria, invertebrates havinga three-layerd body lacking clearly defined organs, a single opening serving as both mouth and anus, and a ring of tentacles surrounding the opening that bear specialized stinging cells
Cnidoblast	the stinging cells of a cnidarians, containing the nematocyst
Coelenterate	a synonym for "cnidarian," now outdated
Coelom	the body cavity formed in higher organisms by the division of the embryonic mesodermal tissue layer, and within which the organs are suspended from sheets of tissue called "mesenteries"
Cold-blooded	said of organisms whos body temperature is the same as that of their surroundings
Colisa	dwarf gouramis such as C. lalia, small labyrinth fish from India with attractive coloration Coller cell a synonym for choanocyte
Colossoma	black pacus, vegetarian relatives of the piranhas, Family Characidae, that grow to an enormous size and thus are suitable only for large aquariums
Column	the stalk supporting the tentacular crown of a polyp, especially an anemone
Comb jelly	common name for members of Phylum Ctenophora, invertebrates that resemble cnidarians but lack stinging cells and possess a series of ciliated plates on the body surface
Commensalism	a symbiotic relationship in which two species co-occur but neither helps or harms the other
Concepacle	reproductive structure of certain red algae, Phylum Rhodophyta, useful in identification
Condylactis	a tropical sea anemone from the Atlantic and Caribbean region, typically found in grass beds or near coral reefs, and regularly imported for the aquarium
Congeners	organisms sharing the same genetic background
Contractile plylps	individuals within a colony of hydrozoans that are specialized for drawing captured prey toward the mouth
Conus	tropical gastropod mollusks capable of delivering a poisonous sting
Convolutriloba	a flatworm pest, recognizable by its distinctive three-pointed posterior; it feeds on aquarium cnidarians
Copella	South American pyrrhulinid characin, including C. arnolki, that lays its eggs on leaves located above the water surface; the male subsequently moistens them by repeated splashing with his fins
Copepod	tiny crustaceans found in a variety of aquatic habitats and often able to reproduce in the aquarium; free-living forms are eaten by a variety of fish, a few, such as the freshwater "anchor worm," are parasitic
Copper	a chemical element required in trace amounts by many organisms; it is also used in the treatment of protozoan parasite infestations of marine fish and sometimes for control of undesirable algae or mollusks in freshwater aquariums
Coradion	the orange-banded coralfish, Family Chaetodontidae, often imported from Indonesia where it occours in areas of poor coral growth
Coral	any of the colonial anthozoans, but most frequently applied to the Order Scleractinia, or stony corals, in which a calcified skeleton is produced
Coral reef	an ecosystem associated with a massive underwater structure comprised of the skeletons of stony corals
Coral rock	the fossil remains of coral reefs formed prior to the most recent Ice Age
Coral sand	granular aggregate of pulverized coral rock, shell fragments, and other minerals deposited on the sea bottom
Corallimorpharina	any member of the anthozoan Order Corallimorpharia, commonly known as false corals or disk anemones
Corallina	red marine algae having a calcified skeleton
Coralline	referring to any of the marine algae that possess calcified skeletons
Corallite	an individual polyp of a colonial anthozoan
Coris	tropical wrasses, Family Labridae, popular with marine aquarium hobbyists due to the gaudy coloration of the adult males; many species are imported
Cornularia	stoloniferan soft corals occasionally imported for minireef aquariums
Corydoras	the most popular armored catfish native to South America; they are frequently included in community freshwater tanks because of thei ability to scavenge food from the gravel substrate
Courtship	a set of ritual behaviors that permits coordination of spaning behavior between males and females of a species, usually taking place just prior to the deposition of eggs and their fertilization
Cowery	any marine gastropod of Family Cypraeidae, recognizable by a colorful, highly polished shell completely enveloped by the mantle
Crenicichla	the pike cichlids of South America that require a roomy tank because of their aggressive and predatory behavior
Crepuscular	active primarily at dusk or just before dawn
Crinoid	a feather star, or member of the echinoderm Class Crinoidea; sometimes imported; most are to delicate to adapt to aquarium life
Crinum	bog lily, a large, bulb-forming plant in the Amaryllis family with fragrent white flowers often grown in ornamental ponds
Curshed coral	coral rock that has been milled to granules approximately 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) in diameter; used as a substrate material in marine aquariums
Crustacean	any member of the arthropod Phylum Crustacea, marine or freshwater animals characterized by jointed appendages, an external skeleton, and a body divided into the externally unsegmented cephalothorax and a segmented abdomen
Crustose	said of algae or colonial invertebrates that form a thin, hard layer on a solid substrate
Cryptic coloration	a pattern of pigmentation that allows an organism to blend into the background of its preferred habitat
Cryptocaryon	a ciliated protozoan infesting the gills and epidermis of marine fish, commonly known as "white spot" or "marine ich"; it responds to copper treatment
Cryptocentrus	watchman gobies, marine fish often found in association with certain species of alpheid shrimps
Cryptocoryne	a large genus of tropical freshwater flowering plants of the aroid family, imported from Asia and popular with aquarists
Cryptodendrum	an unusual and rarely seen anemone that sometimes hosts clownfish
Ctenochaetus	bristletooth surgeonfish, Family Acanthuridae, imported primarily from Hawaii and valued for their propensity to consume filamentous algae
Ctenoid scale	a scale with small toothlike projections, giving the fish a rough feel
Ctenophore	any member of Phylum Ctenophora, characterized by a single body opening, no distinct organs, and a series of ciliated plates surrounding the body
Ctenopoma	anabantids of tropical West Africa, sutiable for planted aquariums with soft water
Current	one-directional movement withen a mass of water or air
Cyanoacrylate glue	a type of adhesive that adheares well toliving tissue; it can be used to attach living coral colonies, for example, to a peice of rock
Cyanobacteria	photosynthetic prokaryotes commonly called "blue green algae," which are often considered pests in both freshwater and marine aquariums
Cycling	establishing a population of beneficial nitrifying bacteria in an aquarium's biological filtration system; the name comes from the ecological term "nitrogen cycle"
Cycloid scale	a scale with circular bony ridges, found on most types of modern fish
Cyclops	a genus of copepods with a single eyespot located in the middle of the head
Cymopolia	calcified tropical marine green alga with a skeletal structure resembling a string of beads and bearing tufts of green, photosynthetic filaments at the ends of the strands
Cynariana	a solitary stony coral that lies on sandy or muddy substrates and adapts well to the minireef aquarium
Cynolebias	a popular genus of annual killifish from South Amreica that live in temporary bodies of water
Cyphoma	flamingo tongue snails, tropical gastropods that feed on gorgonian soft corals and are sometimes accidentally introduced into the aquarium
Cyprinella	carplike fish of North American streams and rivers, some species of which are exhibited in temperate aquariums
Cyprinodon	cyprinodontids of the United States and Mexico, including the common sheepshead minnow of the eastern coastal marshes, and the rare and endangered pupfish of the desert Southwest
Cyprinus	the common carp, or koi, C. carpio, often maintained in garden ponds

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