Benthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone.[1] This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.
Many organisms adapted to deep-water pressure cannot survive in the upper parts of the water column. The pressure difference can be very significant (approximately one atmosphere for each 10 meters of water depth).
Because light does not penetrate very deep ocean-water, the energy source for deep benthic ecosystems is often organic matter from higher up in the water column which drifts down to the depths. This dead and decaying matter sustains the benthic food chain; most organisms in the benthic zone are scavengers or detritivores.
The term benthos comes from the Greek noun βένθος "depths of the sea".[1] Benthos is also used in freshwater biology to refer to organisms at the bottom of freshwater bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, and streams.[2]
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[edit] Food sources
The main food sources for the benthos are algae and organic runoff from land. The depth of water, temperature and salinity, and type of local substrate all affect what benthos is present. In coastal waters and other places where light reaches the bottom, benthic photosynthesizing diatoms can proliferate. Filter feeders, such as sponges and bivalves, dominate hard, sandy bottoms. Deposit feeders, such as polychaetes, populate softer bottoms. Fish, sea stars, snails, cephalopods, and crustaceans are important predators and scavengers.
Benthic organisms, such as sea stars, oysters, clams, sea cucumbers, brittle stars and sea anemones, play an important role as a food source for fish and humans.
[edit] By size
[edit] Macrobenthos
Macrobenthos comprises the larger, more visible, benthic organisms that are greater than 1 mm in size. Some examples are polychaete worms, bivalves, echinoderms, sea anemones, corals, sponges, sea squirts, turbellarians and larger crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters and cumaceans.
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Seagrass growing off the coast
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A sea squirt being used as a substrate for a nudibranch's spiral egg
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Microphotograph of typical macrobenthic animals
[edit] Meiobenthos
Meiobenthos comprises tiny benthic organisms that are less than 1 mm but greater than 0.1 mm in size. Some examples are nematodes, foraminiferans, water bears, gastrotriches and smaller crustaceans such as copepods and ostracodes.
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Live foraminifera Ammonia tepida (Rotaliida)
[edit] Microbenthos
Microbenthos comprises microscopic benthic organisms that are less than 0.1 mm in size. Some examples are bacteria, diatoms, ciliates, amoeba, flagellates.
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Marine diatoms
[edit] By type
[edit] Zoobenthos
Zoobenthos comprises the animals belonging to the benthos.
[edit] Phytobenthos
Phytobenthos comprises the plants belonging to the benthos, mainly benthic diatoms and macroalgae (seaweed).
[edit] By location
[edit] Epibenthos
Epibenthos lives on top of the sediments.
[edit] Hyperbenthos
Hyperbenthos lives just above the sediment.
[edit] See also
Contrast the terms plankton (the organisms that float or drift within the water), nekton (the organisms that swim (powerfully) in the water), and neuston (the organisms that float on the water).
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Benthos from the Census of Antarctic Marine Life website
- ^ North American Benthological Society website
[edit] References
- Benthos. (2008) Encyclopædia Britannica. (Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.)
- Ryan, Paddy (2007) Benthic communities Te Ara - the Encyclopædia of New Zealand, updated 21 September 2007.
- Yip, Maricela and Madl, Pierre (1999) Benthos University of Salzburg.
[edit] External links
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