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.
