filter feeder

noun

1. an aquatic animal that feeds on particles or small organisms strained out of water by circulating them through its system: includes most of the stationary feeders, as clams, oysters, barnacles, corals, sea squirts, and sponges.

filter feeder

1. An aquatic animal, such as a clam or sponge, that feeds by filtering tiny organisms or fine particles of organic material from currents of water that pass through it.

Word History and Origins

Origin of filter feeder¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

"It's an incredible adaptation allowing this filter feeder to thrive in currents normally unsuitable for suspension feeding."

From Science Daily

While this may seem like a bizarre way to live if you're a human — and are therefore used to enjoying food with two rows of sharp teeth — there is an evolutionary logic to life as a filter feeder.

From Salon

Perhaps the oldest-known vertebrate filter feeder is the large armored fish Titanichthys, which lived more than 100 million years before Hupehsuchus.

From Reuters

This structure enables the animal to thrive as a free-swimming filter feeder.

From Scientific American

Some argue the first multicellular organism was probably a sedentary filter feeder, like a microscopic sponge.

From Science Magazine