benthos

[ ben-thos ]

noun

1. the biogeographic region that includes the bottom of a lake, sea, or ocean, and the littoral and supralittoral zones of the shore.

benthos

/ ˈbɛnθɒs /

noun

1. the animals and plants living at the bottom of a sea or lake
2. the bottom of a sea or lake

benthos

/ bĕn′thŏs′ /

1. The bottom of a sea or lake.
2. The organisms living on sea or lake bottoms. The benthos are divided into sessile organisms (those that are attached to the bottom or to objects on or near the bottom) and vagrant organisms (those that crawl or swim along the bottom).
3. Compare nektonSee more at epifauna

Derived Forms

• ˈbenthic, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of benthos¹

1890–95; < Greek bénthos depth (of the sea); akin to bathos, bathy-

Word History and Origins

Origin of benthos¹

C19: from Greek: depth; related to bathus deep

Example Sentences

Thirteen months later, populations of these kinds of mobile deep sea dwellers, known as swimming benthos, had dropped by 43 percent in the mining location and 56 percent in adjacent areas surrounding the site.

From Salon

But they do know this: The brittle star has thousands of pig snouts on each arm, a veritable sty in the benthos.

From New York Times

The dominant feature in the plots rendered by acoustic queries into the benthos is still that dense, impenetrable cloud of the deep scattering layer.

From Scientific American

Moreover, more medusae formed in waters that had fewer bottom dwellers, or ‘benthos’ — animals such as starfish, sea slugs, shrimp and fish — and greater environmental disturbance.

From Nature

His wife, Barbara, worked on the flora and fauna of the benthos, the bottom layer, where clams live.

From Scientific American