Definition: Living in the fluid medium (water or air) but unable to maintain their position or distribution independently of the movement of the water/air mass (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998).
Definition: The marine benthic biome (benthic meaning 'bottom') encompasses the seafloor and includes such areas as shores, littoral or intertidal areas, marine coral reefs, and the deep seabed.
Definition: a type of locomotion in which an animal moves on a secreted layer of mucus, propelled by the beating of cilia. It is characteristic of small, soft-bodied invertebrates.
Definition: consumers specializing in labile organic matter, which is easily metabolized; usually low molecular weight compounds, eg: simple sugars or proteins. For instance, metabolic scaling puts intense selective pressure on small organisms to ingest foods rich in labile organic matter; the residence time in a very short gut is too brief for enzymatic hydrolysis, so they specialize in rapidly metabolizable compounds.
Definition: consumers specializing in labile organic matter, which is easily metabolized; usually low molecular weight compounds, eg: simple sugars or proteins. For instance, metabolic scaling puts intense selective pressure on small organisms to ingest foods rich in labile organic matter; the residence time in a very short gut is too brief for enzymatic hydrolysis, so they specialize in rapidly metabolizable compounds.
