Macrobenthos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Macrobenthos consists of the organisms that live at the bottom of a water column[1] and are visible to the naked eye.[2] In some classification schemes, these organisms are larger than 1 mm;[1] in another, the smallest dimension must be at least 0.5 mm.[3] They include polychaete worms, pelecypods, anthozoans, echinoderms, sponges, ascidians, crustaceans.

In freshwater ecosystems, the benthic macroorganisms provide a good visual indicator of water quality.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 J.S. Link, C.A. Griswold, E.T. Methratta, J. Gunnard, Editors. 2006. Documentation for the Energy Modeling and Analysis eXercise (EMAX). United States Department of Commerce, Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Reference Document 06-15 Chapter 8.
  2. "Macrobenthos definition". Mondofacto. 09 Oct 1997. Retrieved 2011-01-26. 
  3. "Macrobenthos definition". Science-Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2011-01-26. 
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