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: Planktotrophic species generally have fairly long pelagic larval durations and feed while in the water column. Consequentially, they have the potential to disperse long distances.
Definition: Capable of the biological process in which new individuals are produced by either a single cell or a group of cells, in the absence of any sexual process.
Definition: Eye-spots which may be set into a pit to reduce the angles of light that enters, to allow the organism to deduce the angle of incoming light. Lens-like structures may be present, but stemmata, unlike lens eyes, cannot form an image, either for lack of refractive power or retinal resolution.
