pleuston
nounEtymology From Ancient Greek πλεῦσις (pleûsis, “sailing”), from πλέω (pléō) + -on. The -t- is on analogy with the coordinate terms.
- They^([Cnidarians]) are also the dominant organisms of the marine pleuston, providing food or substrate for a variety of other invertebrates living at the air-water interface[…].1974, G. O. Mackie, “VIII: Location, Flotation and Dispersal”, in Leonard Muscatine, Howard M. Lenhoff, editors, Coelenterate Biology: Reviews and New Perspectives, Academic Press, page 313:
- These animals form the pleuston. Zaitsev (1971) differentiates between the neuston and the pleuston, while admitting that the distinction may be somewhat blurred. Both populations are associated with the surface film. That part of a pleuston animal which projects above the water surface can withstand prolonged desiccation and exposure to direct sunlight.1983, John E. G. Raymont, James Dennis Burton, Keith R. Dyer, Plankton and Productivity in the Oceans: Zooplankton, Pergamon Press, page 9:
- Derived terms
- pleustonic
- Hypernyms
- hydrophyte