Benthos

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Benthos \Ben"thos\ (b[e^]n"th[o^]s), n. [NL., fr. Gr. be`nqos
     depth of the sea.]
     The bottom of the sea, esp. of the deep oceans; hence (Bot. &
     Zool.), the fauna and flora of the sea bottom; -- opposed to
     {plankton}.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  benthos
       n 1: a region including the bottom of the sea and the littoral
            zones [syn: {benthic division}, {benthonic zone}]
       2: organisms (plants and animals) that live at or near the
          bottom of a sea

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  47 Moby Thesaurus words for "benthos":
     Bassalia, Loch Ness monster, abyss, abyssal zone, alevin,
     bathyal zone, benthon, bottom waters, bottomless depths, cetacean,
     dolphin, fingerling, fish, fry, game fish, grilse, ground,
     inner space, kipper, man-eater, man-eating shark, marine animal,
     minnow, minny, nekton, ocean bottom, ocean depths, ocean floor,
     panfish, pelagic zone, plankton, porpoise, salmon, sea monster,
     sea pig, sea serpent, sea snake, shark, smolt, sponge, the deep,
     the deep sea, the deeps, the depths, trench, tropical fish,
     whale