The Marine Life Information Network

Information on the biology of species and the ecology of habitats found around the coasts and seas of the British Isles

Environmental position

Substratum (surface)
Position relative the surface of hard or soft substrata
Epilithic Growing on the surface of rock or other hard inorganic substrata.
Epibenthic Living on the surface of the seabed.
Epifaunal An animal living on the surface of the substratum (McLeod, 1996).
Epifloral A plant living on the surface of the substratum (McLeod, 1996).
Epiphytic Growing on the surface of a living plant but not parasitic upon it (McLeod, 1996).
Epizoic Growing or living on the exterior of a living animal but not parasitic upon it.
Epipelic An organism that moves over the surface of sediment or living at the sediment / water interface
Substratum (body)
Position relative to the body of the hard or soft substratum.
Infaunal Benthic animals which live within the seabed.
Interstitial Relating to the system of cavities and channels formed by the spaces between grains in a sediment (interstitial space).
Lithotomous Relating to an organism that burrows into rock (Lincoln et al., 1998).
Endozoic Living within the body of an animal (Lincoln et al 1998).
Endophytic A plant living within another plant (Lincoln et al. 1998).
Water column
Position within the water column
Pleustonic Living permanently at the water surface due to their own buoyancy, normally positioned partly in the water and partly in the air.
Neustonic Living on or under the surface film of open water.
Pelagic Inhabiting the open waters of the sea or ocean, excluding the bottom layers (Lincoln et al. 1998).
Demersal Living at or near the bottom of a sea or lake, but having the capacity for active swimming (from Lincoln et al., 1998).
Hyperbenthic Living above but close to the substratum (from Lincoln et al., 1998).

References

Lincoln, R.J., Boxshall, G.A. & Clark, P.F., 1998. Dictionary of ecology, evolution and systematics. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

McLeod, C.R., 1996. Glossary of marine ecological terms, acronyms and abbreviations used in MNCR work. In: Marine Nature Conservation Review: Rationale and methods, (ed. K. Hiscock), pp 93-117. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.