Etymology From Latin pelagicus (and possibly pelagus); from Ancient Greek πελαγικός (pelagikós), from πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea”). By surface analysis, -pelag + -ic.
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Biology, Natural sciences Living in the open sea rather than in coastal or inland waters.
Besides, seeing a shark in an aquarium tank is not the same as seeing a shark in the wild, in its natural, pelagic habitat.1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 13:
The main fish species in freshwater ponds in China are silver carp, bighead carp, grass carp, common carp, crucian carp, black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), mud carp (Cirrhinus molitorella), etc. According to their live habitat, they can be divided relatively into pelagic and benthic fish.2023 April 4, Shuang-Lin Dong, Xiang-Li Tian, Qin-Feng Gao, Yun-Wei Dong, Aquaculture Ecology, Springer Nature, →ISBN, page 342:
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Of or pertaining to oceans.
Drifting idly around a broad oceanic arc, the bottle collides softly with tens of thousands of pelagic plastics all colonized by hard-shelled organisms, including barnacles, coralline algae, foraminifera and bivalve molluscs.2020, David Farrier, “The Bottle as Hero”, in Footprints, 4th Estate, →ISBN:
Etymology From Latin pelagicus (and possibly pelagus); from Ancient Greek πελαγικός (pelagikós), from πέλαγος (pélagos, “sea”). By surface analysis, -pelag + -ic.
1
Biology, Natural sciences Any organism that lives in the open sea rather than in coastal or inland waters.