coral
/ˈkɔrəl/A hard stony growth built up by tiny sea creatures over centuries.
Example: Half the coral on that reef has gone white in ten years.
B114 words · Intermediate
Sea Animals vocabulary — B1
Sea and river animal vocabulary naming the coral, mussel, cod and stingray alongside common fish like the herring and the sardine.
14 questions
Words in this set
14sponge
/spʌndʒ/A soft holey sea animal that strains its food from water passing through it.
Example:
A sponge doesn't move, doesn't hunt and has no brain at all.
clam
/klæm/A shellfish that lives buried in sand between two hinged shells.
Example:
You dig for clams at low tide and get filthy doing it.
mussel
/ˈmʌsəl/A blue-black shellfish that grows in thick clumps on ropes and rocks.
Example:
We had a bowl of mussels in white wine and not much else.
cod
/kɑd/A large white-fleshed sea fish, the usual one in fish and chips.
Example:
Two cod and a large chips, please.
trout
/traʊt/A speckled freshwater fish that anglers spend whole weekends chasing.
Example:
He caught a trout on his first cast and never stopped mentioning it.
herring
/ˈhɛrɪŋ/A small oily sea fish caught in vast shoals and often smoked.
Example:
Pickled herring is one of those things you either love or don't.
sardine
/sɑrˈdin/A tiny oily fish packed tight into a flat tin.
Example:
There were sardines on toast and nothing else in the house.
anchovy
/ænˈtʃoʊvi/A very small strong-tasting fish used to add salt and depth to a sauce.
Example:
There's an anchovy melted into the dressing and nobody can tell.
swordfish
/ˈsɔrdˌfɪʃ/A big sea fish with a long flat blade for a snout.
Example:
A swordfish can drive that thing straight through a plank.
stingray
A flat diamond-shaped fish that glides over the seabed with a barbed tail.
Example:
A stingray lifted off the sand in a cloud and vanished.
seahorse
A tiny upright fish with a curled tail whose male carries the young.
Example:
A seahorse had wrapped itself round a stem of eelgrass.
plaice
A flat sea fish with orange spots on its back.
Example:
Plaice was the only thing on the menu that was actually local.
bream
/brim/A deep-bodied freshwater fish that feeds on the bottom.
Example:
A shoal of bream churned up the whole margin of the lake.
