14.2: Definitions
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Definitions
- Planktonic: applies to organisms that float or drift with flowing currents (zooplankton are animals, phytoplankton are plants.)
- Nektonic: applies to organism that actively move swim by their own means.
- Pelagic: means relating to the open sea, chiefly shallow layers. Planktonic and nektonic organisms live in open water (more in chapter 16).
- Benthic: means relating to, or occurring at the bottom of a body of water (oceans, lakes), relates to bottom-dwelling organism (more in chapter 15).
The term benthic applies to: |
• shoreline and nearshore environments (littoral and estuarine) |
• littoral (pertaining to the shore and very near shore of ocean or lake) |
• estuarine (pertaining to transition from river to ocean settings) |
• neritic (pertaining to the seabed in shallow ocean and deep water settings) |
• limnetic (pertaining to lakes) |
- Terrestrial refers to land environments (desert, mountain, rivers, etc) - some marine predators live in terrestrial environments.


Feeding behaviors
* Autotrophic: Produce their own food (primary producers) |
* Heterotrophic: Eat other things (living or dead) (consumers - primary, secondary, and tertiary). |
Feeding strategies of heterotrophic marine organisms: |
* Filter feeding: ex: shellfish |
* Deposit feeding: Eat deposits of dead or decaying matter |
* Carnivorous feeding: Capture and eat it! |
