MEANING
Aquatic animals able to swim actively and move largely independently of surrounding currents.
Use it for
grouping strong swimmers in a marine ecosystem; contrasting swimming animals with drifting plankton; describing animals that choose their movement through waterProvides the functional contrast between active swimmers, drifting plankton, and bottom-associated benthos. Writing functions: Active swimmers in aquatic ecology.
Words that belong together
- marine nekton
- oceanic nekton
- nekton communities
On the page
The survey recorded squid and fish as part of the local nekton.
Unlike plankton, much of the nekton could move against the current.
Word forms
- Base
- nekton
Usage notes
Collective mass noun: nekton. Adjective nektonic is related, not an additional entry here. Register: technical. Commonness: uncommon outside ecology (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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