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OF THE VERDE ISLAND PASSAGE 
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Appendix 
Glossary 
Anastomosis: In gorgonian corals, the union or cross fusion of bmnches. Sometimes there is only one or a 
few examples on a colony, but if a colony has common and abundant anastomosing branches the colo¬ 
nial growth fonn may appear as a network. 
Autozooid: The largest kind of polyp in octocorals, with eight pinnate tentacles sunounding the mouth; for 
feeding, reproduction, and protection. 
Axial: RefeiTing to tlie central axis of a gorgonian, sea pen, or black coral; see Axis. 
Axis: Tlie rod-like stmcture in the center of a gorgonian or pennatulacean colony that runs throughout most 
or all of the length of the colony, composed of sclerites, hard protein, or consolidated calcium carbonate 
with varying amount of proteinaceous material. 
Birotulate: A capstan-like sclerite, with the tubercles of two parallel whorls fused into disks; also called dou¬ 
ble discs or double wheels (Fig. 8, center and bottom right). 
Calcareous: Refemng to a stmctiu'e that is composed of calcium carbonate (CaC03). 
Calyx: The wart-like, rigid base of some polyps that does not retract below the surface of the colony. 
Capstan: A capstan-like sclerite; see Radiate (Fig. 31, top left and bottom right). 
Clubs: Unbranched, club-like sclerites that are enlarged at one end, and tapered to form a thinner handle at 
the other end. 
Contractile: A polyp that may reduce in size but cannot be withdrawn. 
Coral Triangle: A biogeographical region of maximum marine biodiversity based primarily on the high 
species diversity of zooxanthellate corals; encompassing the entire Philippines, eastern Indonesia, and 
western, noithem and eastern New Guinea, to the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands (Fig. 
2A). 
Cortex: The outer layer of a central axis that is composed of consolidated sclerites; as opposed to the medul¬ 
la — the inner core. 
Denticulated: Toothed or serrated. 
Dichotomous branching: Branching pattern in which a single branch gives rise to only two branches at each 
branching point, givuig a Y-shaped axil. 
Double heads: Sclerites with narrow, smooth waists and terminal clusters of tubercles that are not radially- 
arranged (See Fig. 35, top row). 
en chevron : Sclerites aiTanged in an inverted V-shape, sometimes found on the walls or calyces of autozooids. 
Filiform: Unbranched, tlireadike, or whiplike, as mJunceella. 
Fistulose: Hollow with open widened grooves where the white interior is exposed toward the ends of branch¬ 
es, gutter-like, as in Solenocaulon. 
Holdfast: The basal portion of a colony that adheres a gorgonian to a hard substratum. 
Lateral branching: Iniegular branching in octocorals —-neither dichotomous or pinnate. 
Lobate: Growth form with several prominent lobes, as in some colonies of the genus Briareum. 
