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Dry Tortugas

(Encyclopedia)Dry Tortugas tôrto͞oˈgəz [key], island group in the Gulf of Mexico, off S Fla., 60 mi (97 km) W of Key West. Named by the Spanish explorer Ponce de León in 1513, the islands later became a pirate...

scallop

(Encyclopedia)scallop or pecten, marine bivalve mollusk. Like its close relative the oyster, the scallop has no siphons, the mantle being completely open, but it differs from other mollusks in that both mantle edge...

semaphore

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Positions of a railroad semaphore: (A) clear, (B) caution, (C) stop semaphore sĕmˈəfôrˌ [key], device for the visible transmission of messages. The marine semaphore, used by day between s...

sailfish

(Encyclopedia)sailfish, common name for a marine game and food fish, genus Istiophorus, belonging to the family Istiophoridae and related to the marlin. It is named for its high, wide dorsal fin (or “sail”), co...

Roon, Albrecht Theodor Emil, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Roon, Albrecht Theodor Emil, Graf von älˈbrĕkht tāˈōdôr āˈmēl gräf fən rōn [key], 1803–79, Prussian field marshal. A military reformer, he insistently pleaded for the reorganization of ...

toadfish

(Encyclopedia)toadfish, common name for the sluggish, bottom-feeding fishes of the family Batrachoididae, found mainly in marine and brackish waters worldwide. Toadfishes feed largely on crustaceans and small fishe...

North Kingstown

(Encyclopedia)North Kingstown kĭngˈstən, kĭngzˈtounˌ [key], town (1990 pop. 23,786), Washington co., S central R.I., on Narragansett Bay; inc. 1674 as Kings Towne, divided 1723 into North Kingstown and South ...

Basescu, Traian

(Encyclopedia)Basescu, Traian trīänˈ bäsĕsˈko͞o [key], 1951–, Romanian political leader, president of Romania (2004–14). An officer in the Romanian merchant marine from 1976, he rose to become an oil-tan...

speedometer

(Encyclopedia)speedometer, instrument that indicates speed. A cable from an automotive speedometer is attached to the rear of the transmission of an automobile; the cable turns at a rate proportional to the speed o...

bonefish

(Encyclopedia)bonefish, common name for a fish belonging to several species in the two genera of the family Albulidae. Albula vulpes, the bonefish, is widespread in warm, shallow marine waters; it is the only bonef...