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Randall, John Ernest, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Randall, John Ernest, Jr., 1924–2020, American ichthyologist, b. Los Angeles, Ph.D. Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa, 1955. A marine taxonomist, he named 30 new genera and hundreds of new species of fish. Par...

Cozumel

(Encyclopedia)Cozumel kōzəˈmel [key], resort island, c.190 sq mi (490 sq km), Quintana Roo state, Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea off the E coast of the Yucatán peninsula. It is famed for its beaches and coral ree...

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(Encyclopedia)Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), international agreement that aims to ensure that trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threate...

Pacific Ocean

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Pacific Ocean, largest and deepest ocean, c.70,000,000 sq mi (181,300,000 sq km), occupying about one third of the earth's surface; named by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan; the southern part i...

Indian Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Indian Ocean, third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It con...

Sulu Archipelago

(Encyclopedia)Sulu Archipelago so͞oˈlo͞o [key], island group, 1,086 sq mi (2,813 sq km), the Philippines, SW of Mindanao. Lying between the Celebes and Sulu seas, it includes over 900 volcanic islands and coral ...

aircraft carrier

(Encyclopedia)aircraft carrier, ship designed to carry aircraft and to permit takeoff and landing of planes. The carrier's distinctive features are a upper deck (flight deck) that is flat and sometimes sloped to fu...

triggerfish

(Encyclopedia)triggerfish, any of several species of tropical reef fishes with laterally compressed bodies, heavy scales, and tough skins. They are named for the mechanism of the three spines of the dorsal fin: whe...

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

(Encyclopedia)Ashmore and Cartier Islands ăshˈmōr, cärˌtē-āˈ [key], unhabited tropical islands, 2 sq mi (5 sq km), E Indian Ocean, a dependency of Australia located 190 mi (300 km) NW of N Western Australia...

Key Largo

(Encyclopedia)Key Largo, narrow island, c.30 mi (48 km) long, off S Fla., largest of the Florida Keys. Along with other Florida Keys, especially Key West, it has become an increasingly popular tourist spot, noted f...