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Biodiversity & Conservation

Environmental position

Definition
Epibenthic Living on the surface of the seabed.
Epilithic Growing on the surface of rock or other hard inorganic substrata.
Epifaunal An animal living on the surface of the substratum.
Epifloral A plant living on the surface of the substratum.
Epiphytic Growing on the surface of a living plant but not parasitic upon it.
Epizoic Growing or living on the exterior of a living animal but not parasitic upon it.
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.
Demersal Living at or near the bottom of a sea or lake, but having the capacity for active swimming (from Lincoln, Boxshall & Clark 1998).
Pelagic Inhabiting the open waters of the sea or ocean, excluding the bottom layers.
Neustonic Living on or under the surface film of open water.
Pleustonic Living permanently at the water surface due to their own buoyancy, normally positioned partly in the water and partly in the air.
Hyperbenthic Living above but close to the substratum (from Lincoln et al., 1998).

References