benthos

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ben·thos

(bĕn′thŏs′)

1. The collection of organisms living on or in the bottom of a body of water.

2. The bottom of a body of water.

[Greek.]

ben′thic (-thĭk), ben·thon′ic (bĕn-thŏn′ĭk) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

benthos

(ˈbɛnθɒs) or

benthon

1. (Biology) the animals and plants living at the bottom of a sea or lake

2. the bottom of a sea or lake

[C19: from Greek: depth; related to bathus deep]

ˈbenthic, ˈbenthal, benˈthonic adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ben•thos

(ˈbɛn θɒs)

n.

the biogeographic region that includes the bottom of a lake, sea, or ocean and the littoral and supralittoral zones of the shore. Also called ben′thic divi`sion, benthon′ic zone`.

[1890–95; < Greek bénthos depth (of the sea)]

ben·thos

(bĕn′thŏs′)

1. The bottom of a sea or lake.

2. The organisms living on sea or lake bottoms.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

benthos

- The flora and fauna at the bottom of a sea or lake.

benthos

1. the depths or bottom of the sea.
2. organic life that inhabits the bottom of the sea.

See also: Depth, Sea

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	benthos - a region including the bottom of the sea and the littoral zones benthic division, benthonic zone biogeographical region - an area of the Earth determined by distribution of flora and fauna
	2.	benthos - organisms (plants and animals) that live at or near the bottom of a sea organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently

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References in periodicals archive ?

The first step in developing a standard benthos protocol was building partnerships among monitoring agencies, policy makers and environmental NGOs.

Watershed canaries: aquatic insects, crustaceans, worms and molluscs are excellent indicators of early water quality changes

Some Houston-area counseling resources for people with HIV: All Walks of Life 9106 Benthos Houston, TX 77083 281.495.9226 Free; men and women Location: Southwest Houston Amigos Volunteers in Education and Services (AVES) 4126 Southwest Freeway, Suite 1310 Houston, TX 77027 713.626.2837 Free; men, women, youth (13-19), children Location: Houston Inner Loop Bering Omega Community Services 1427 Hawthorne Houston, TX 77006 713.529.6071 Free; men and women Location: Houston Inner Loop Eleos Center, Inc.

Mental health issues: with HIV/AIDS

Next came the sediment model, which looks at the resuspension and deposition mechanisms for sediment in the water column and benthos (seabed).

Master modellers. (Moreton Bay Study)

Plants and animals arrive as plankton (drifters), nekton (free-swimming), fouling organisms (attached inside and on the hulls, propellers, and intake systems of vessels), and benthos (bottom dwellers).

Two if by sea: invasive species are changing the ocean environment. (Currents)

Repetto mentions that Canadian enterprise allocation companies invested several million dollars in mapping scallop beds on Georges Bank, which promises to reduce effort and therefore damage to benthos.

Fisheries management. (Forum)

All Walks of Life-AWOL, 9106 Benthos, Houston, TX 77083.

The Ultimate Victims

Detritivorous organisms eat organic remains and are especially relevant in the benthos, as they eat the remains of benthic production, for instance, the corpses of pelagic organisms deposited on the sea bottom.

3 Life on the ocean bottom

All have recently installed the TapTone 500 from the TapTone Package Inspection Division of Benthos Inc., North Palmouth, Mass.

Keeping pace with technology

Our results suggest that benthos size structure responds to a gradient of fish consumption, rather than a qualitative distinction of fish presence or absence.

GRADIENT OF FISH PREDATION ALTERS BODY SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF LAKE BENTHOS

Vulnerability-adjusted prey densities are either obtained by multiplying densities by a factor [less than]1 (for zooplankton and benthos), or by determining the vulnerability of each individual fish prey item (forage fish, yellow perch, or walleye), based on its length relative to the predator length.

Individual-based model of yellow perch and walleye populations in Oneida Lake

Biological research at the SLC has been focused on the chemical contamination of six species of fish and on the development of environmental indicators based on variations in genetically inherited physical characteristics of benthos. Researchers have also been busy assessing the effect of water-level variation in the St.