Pleuston

The water strider, a common pleuston

Pleuston are the organisms that live in the thin surface layer existing at the air-water interface of a body of water as their habitat.^[1] Examples include some cyanobacteria, some gastropods, the ferns Azolla and Salvinia and the seed plants Lemna, Wolffia, Pistia, Eichhornia crassipes and Hydrocharis. Some fungi and fungi-like protists may be also found.

Neuston

The term Neuston is used either:

As a synonym for Pleuston: hence, the collective term for the organisms that float on the top of water (epineuston) or live right under the surface (hyponeuston).
That subset of floating organisms that are microscopic^[2] or those that rely on surface tension to float.^[3] This is in comparison with the term pleuston, which is then its superset, including those organisms that float by buoyancy or are macroscopic.

Neustons, broadly defined, are made up of some species of fish (see flying fish^[4]), beetles (see whirligig beetle), protozoans, bacteria and spiders (see fishing spider and diving bell spider). Collembola in the genera Podura and Sminthurides are almost exclusively neustonic, while Hypogastrura species often aggregate on pond surfaces. A water strider, Gerris, is a common example of an insect that supports its weight on water's surface tension. By extension, the term may also refer to non-organismal floating aggregations (see, e.g., Great Pacific Garbage Patch).

Contrasts with other aquatic life

A flying fish

Contrast the terms plankton (the organisms that float or drift within the water), nekton (the organisms that swim, powerfully, in the water), and benthos (the organisms on the bottom of a body of water).

Aquatic ecosystem topics

Aquatic ecosystems – general and freshwater components

General	Acoustic ecology Adaptation Agent-based models Algal bloom Anoxic waters Aquatic animals (Insects Mammals) Aquatic plants Aquatic science Benthos Biodiversity research Bioluminescence Biomass Biomonitoring Cascade effect Colored dissolved organic matter Camouflage and mimicry Dead zone Ecohydrology Ecosystems Eutrophication Fisheries science Food chain Food web GIS and aquatic science Hydrobiology Hypoxia Isotope analysis Microbial ecology Microbial food web Microbial loop Nekton Neuston Particle Pelagic zone Photic zone Phytoplankton Plankton Pleuston Predation Productivity Ramsar Convention Respiration Schooling Sediment trap Siltation Spawning Substrate Thermal pollution Toxicology Trophic level Water column Zooplankton More...
Freshwater	Biology Biomes Ecosystems freshwater lake river Fish Hyporheic zone Limnology Lake stratification Macrophyte Pond Fish pond Rheotaxis Stream bed Stream pool Trophic state index Upland and lowland Water garden Wetland brackish marsh freshwater marsh swamp bog fen Environmental quality More...
Ecoregions	Freshwater (List) Marine (List) The Everglades Maharashtra The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre The San Francisco Estuary

Aquatic ecosystems – marine components

Marine	Marine biology Marine chemistry Deep scattering layer Diel vertical migration Ecosystems large marine marine) f-ratio Iron fertilization Marine snow Ocean nourishment Oceanic physical-biological process Ocean turbidity Photophore Thorson's rule Upwelling Whale fall More...
Marine life	Bacteriophages Census Fish coastal coral reef deep sea demersal pelagic Deep sea communities Deep sea creature Deep-water coral Invertebrates Larvae Mammals Marine life Microorganisms Paradox of the plankton Reptiles Seabirds Seashore wildlife Vertebrates Wild fisheries
Marine habitats	Bay mud Coastal biogeomorphology Cold seeps Coral reefs Davidson Seamount Estuaries Intertidal ecology Intertidal wetlands Kelp forests Hydrothermal vents Lagoons Mangroves Marine biomes Marine habitats Mudflats Rocky shores Salt marshes Salt pannes and pools Seagrass meadows Sponge grounds Sponge reefs Tide pools
Issues	Ecological values of mangroves Fisheries and climate change HERMIONE Marine conservation Marine conservation activism Marine pollution Marine Protected Area

References

Look up pleuston in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

↑ "Pleuston". Merriam-Webster Online.
↑ P. S. Liss, W. George N. Slinn. Air-sea exchange of gases and particles. p. 148. ISBN 90-277-1610-2.
↑ James H. Thorp, Alan P. Covich. Ecology and classification of North American freshwater invertebrates. p. 34. ISBN 0-12-690647-5.
↑ The Sea Surface and Global Change by P. S. Liss, Robert A. Duce

External links

"neuston - Britannica Online". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2007-11-13.

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