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sea squirt

(Encyclopedia)sea squirt: see tunicate.

sea star

(Encyclopedia)sea star, also called starfish, echinoderm of the class Asteroidae, common in tide pools. Sea stars vary in size from under 1⁄2 in. (1.3 cm) to over 3 ft (90 cm) in diameter. They are commonly dull ...

sea trout

(Encyclopedia)sea trout: see croaker.

sea turtle

(Encyclopedia)sea turtle, name for several species of large marine turtles found in tropical and subtropical oceans. These turtles are modified for life in the ocean by having flipperlike forelimbs without toes and...

sea urchin

(Encyclopedia)sea urchin, spherical-shaped echinoderm with movable spines covering the body. The body wall is a firm, globose shell, or test, made of fused skeletal plates and marked by regularly arranged tubercles...

sea walnut

(Encyclopedia)sea walnut, common name for some members of the phylum Ctenophora, whose members are also called comb jellies. ...

sea whip

(Encyclopedia)sea whip, erect colony of marine animals of the phylum Cnidaria, with whiplike branches. The skeleton consists of a horny axis, overlaid with small calcareous bodies called spicules. Often beautifully...

Sivash Sea

(Encyclopedia)Sivash Sea sēväshˈ [key] or Putrid Sea, salt lagoon, c.1,000 sq mi (2,590 sq km), extending along the northeastern coast of Crimea. It is separated—except at the Genichesk Strait—from the Sea o...

Sargasso Sea

(Encyclopedia)Sargasso Sea särgăsˈō [key], part of the N Atlantic Ocean, lying roughly between the West Indies and the Azores and from about lat. 20°N to lat. 35°N, in the horse latitudes. The relatively stil...

Ross Sea

(Encyclopedia)Ross Sea, arm of the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross, a British explorer. Ross Island with Mt. Erebus, an active...