Littoral

littoral

1. of or relating to the shore of a sea, lake, or ocean

2. Biology inhabiting the shore of a sea or lake or the shallow waters near the shore

3. a coastal or shore region

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Littoral 

the ecological zone of the sea floor which is flooded during high tide and dry at low tide. It is located between the high and low tide marks. The water advances to cover it and withdraws twice every 24 hours. The littoral is bounded on the high end by the supralittoral zone and on the low end by the sublittoral zone. Some foreign researchers call the entire floor of marine bodies of water to a depth of 200 m the littoral (the continental step, the zone of plant distribution), while others define it as extending to depths of 40–50 m (the lower boundary of wave action). Depending on the slope of the floor and the amplitude of fluctuations of high and low tides, the width of the littoral may range from a few meters to many kilometers. Depending on the nature of the ground, there are silt, sand, pebble, and rock littoral zones.