Definitions For Pleuston

Noun

PLEUSTON (uncountable) (ecology) The organisms that live floating at the surface of water. (botany) Plants that live floating at the surface of water.

Usage notes

With regard to animals, distinction is made between the pleuston and the neuston. While the distinction is not always made clear, one distinction made is that the pleuston are those whose buoyancy restricts them to living at or near the surface, while the neuston inhabit the surface itself, supported mainly by surface tension.1983, P. S. Liss, W. G. N. Slinn (editors), Air-Sea Exchange of Gases and Particles, Kluwer Academic Publishers, .

Hypernyms

botany hydrophyte

Derived terms

pleustonic

Related terms

pleustal

Translations

Finnish: pleuston Finnish: irtokellujat, p

Etymology

From "sailing", from πλέω.

See also

plankton nekton neuston

Anagrams

upstolen