Organisms that live in water.
Chemical compounds which pollute the water of rivers, streams, lakes, the sea, reservoirs, or other bodies of water.
Substances or organisms which pollute the water or bodies of water. Use for water pollutants in general or those for which there is no specific heading.
A diverse genus of minute freshwater CRUSTACEA, of the suborder CLADOCERA. They are a major food source for both young and adult freshwater fish.
A yellowish fossil resin, the gum of several species of coniferous trees, found in the alluvial deposits of northeastern Germany. It is used in molecular biology in the analysis of organic matter fossilized in amber.
The study of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION and the toxic effects of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS on the ECOSYSTEM. The term was coined by Truhaut in 1969.
A group of cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates having gills, fins, a cartilaginous or bony endoskeleton, and elongated bodies covered with scales.
Cultivation of natural faunal resources of water. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)
Water containing no significant amounts of salts, such as water from RIVERS and LAKES.
Paired respiratory organs of fishes and some amphibians that are analogous to lungs. They are richly supplied with blood vessels by which oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged directly with the environment.
Diseases of freshwater, marine, hatchery or aquarium fish. This term includes diseases of both teleosts (true fish) and elasmobranchs (sharks, rays and skates).
A genus of VIBRIONACEAE, made up of short, slightly curved, motile, gram-negative rods. Various species produce cholera and other gastrointestinal disorders as well as abortion in sheep and cattle.
A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)
The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.
The salinated water of OCEANS AND SEAS that provides habitat for marine organisms.
The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.
Large natural streams of FRESH WATER formed by converging tributaries and which empty into a body of water (lake or ocean).
The relationships of groups of organisms as reflected by their genetic makeup.
Inland bodies of still or slowly moving FRESH WATER or salt water, larger than a pond, and supplied by RIVERS and streams.
One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.
Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.
Inland bodies of standing FRESHWATER usually smaller than LAKES. They can be man-made or natural but there is no universal agreement as to their exact size. Some consider a pond to be a small body of water that is shallow enough for sunlight to reach the bottom.
A family of bisegmented, double-stranded RNA viruses causing infection in fish, mollusks, fowl, and Drosophila. There are three genera: AQUABIRNAVIRUS; AVIBIRNAVIRUS; and ENTOMOBIRNAVIRUS. Horizontal and vertical transmission occurs for all viruses.
A plant family of the order Hydrocharitales, subclass ALISMATIDAE, class Liliopsida (monocotyledons).
The restriction of a characteristic behavior, anatomical structure or physical system, such as immune response; metabolic response, or gene or gene variant to the members of one species. It refers to that property which differentiates one species from another but it is also used for phylogenetic levels higher or lower than the species.
A multistage process that includes cloning, physical mapping, subcloning, determination of the DNA SEQUENCE, and information analysis.
The sequence of transfers of matter and energy from organism to organism in the form of FOOD. Food chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant. PLANTS, which convert SOLAR ENERGY to food by PHOTOSYNTHESIS, are the primary food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by a larger animal. In a parasite chain, a smaller organism consumes part of a larger host and may itself be parasitized by smaller organisms. In a saprophytic chain, microorganisms live on dead organic matter.
Environments or habitats at the interface between truly terrestrial ecosystems and truly aquatic systems making them different from each yet highly dependent on both. Adaptations to low soil oxygen characterize many wetland species.
Animals that have no spinal column.
An order of wholly aquatic MAMMALS occurring in all the OCEANS and adjoining seas of the world, as well as in certain river systems. They feed generally on FISHES, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Most are gregarious and most have a relatively long period of parental care and maturation. Included are DOLPHINS; PORPOISES; and WHALES. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, pp969-70)
Wormlike or grublike stage, following the egg in the life cycle of insects, worms, and other metamorphosing animals.
The study of aquatic life inhabiting bodies of water, including growth, morphology, physiology, genetics, distribution, and interactions with other organisms and the environment. It includes MARINE HYDROBIOLOGY.
The flow of water in enviromental bodies of water such as rivers, oceans, water supplies, aquariums, etc. It includes currents, tides, and waves.
The process of cumulative change over successive generations through which organisms acquire their distinguishing morphological and physiological characteristics.
Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.
One of the three domains of life (the others being BACTERIA and ARCHAEA), also called Eukarya. These are organisms whose cells are enclosed in membranes and possess a nucleus. They comprise almost all multicellular and many unicellular organisms, and are traditionally divided into groups (sometimes called kingdoms) including ANIMALS; PLANTS; FUNGI; and various algae and other taxa that were previously part of the old kingdom Protista.
The branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their ENVIRONMENT, especially as manifested by natural cycles and rhythms, community development and structure, interactions between different kinds of organisms, geographic distributions, and population alterations. (Webster's, 3d ed)
Constituent of 30S subunit prokaryotic ribosomes containing 1600 nucleotides and 21 proteins. 16S rRNA is involved in initiation of polypeptide synthesis.
The enrichment of a terrestrial or aquatic ECOSYSTEM by the addition of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, that results in a superabundant growth of plants, ALGAE, or other primary producers. It can be a natural process or result from human activity such as agriculture runoff or sewage pollution. In aquatic ecosystems, an increase in the algae population is termed an algal bloom.
An order of heavy-bodied, slow-moving, completely aquatic, herbivorous mammals. The body is fusiform, plump, and hairless, except for bristles on the snout. Hindlimbs are absent, the forelimbs are modified to flippers, and the tail is a horizontal fluke. (From Scott, Concise Encyclopedia Biology, 1996)
A family of the order Anura, distinguished by the lack of a tongue. It includes four living genera of aquatic "toads". Two of the most familiar pipids are the popularly called Surinam "toad" (Pipa pipa) and XENOPUS LAEVIS.
A plant family of the order Najadales, subclass Alismatidae, class Liliopsida (monocotyledons).
Contamination of bodies of water (such as LAKES; RIVERS; SEAS; and GROUNDWATER.)
The variety of all native living organisms and their various forms and interrelationships.
A mass of organic or inorganic solid fragmented material, or the solid fragment itself, that comes from the weathering of rock and is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice. It refers also to a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface, such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1689)
A plant genus of the family PONTEDERIACEAE that is used as a biological filter for treating wastewater.
Instinctual behavior pattern in which food is obtained by killing and consuming other species.
A clear, odorless, tasteless liquid that is essential for most animal and plant life and is an excellent solvent for many substances. The chemical formula is hydrogen oxide (H2O). (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)
A large subphylum of mostly marine ARTHROPODS containing over 42,000 species. They include familiar arthropods such as lobsters (NEPHROPIDAE), crabs (BRACHYURA), shrimp (PENAEIDAE), and barnacles (THORACICA).
Minute free-floating animal organisms which live in practically all natural waters.
An order of mostly marine CRUSTACEA containing more than 5500 species in over 100 families. Like ISOPODA, the other large order in the superorder Peracarida, members are shrimp-like in appearance, have sessile compound eyes, and no carapace. But unlike Isopoda, they possess thoracic gills and their bodies are laterally compressed.
An activity in which the body is propelled through water by specific movement of the arms and/or the legs. Swimming as propulsion through water by the movement of limbs, tail, or fins of animals is often studied as a form of PHYSICAL EXERTION or endurance.
A plant family of the order Arales, subclass Arecidae, class Liliopsida (monocot). Many members contain OXALIC ACID and calcium oxalate (OXALATES).