neuston

[′nü‚stän]

(biology)

Minute organisms that float or swim on surface water or on a surface film of water.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Neuston

the organisms that attach themselves to the surface film of water and move on either the top of the film (supraneuston) or the underside (infraneuston). The neuston includes protozoans, unicellular algae, water striders, Gyrinidae (whirligig beetles), gnat larvae, some Cladocera (water fleas), Pulmonata, and other small, for the most part freshwater, organisms. The marine infraneuston also includes inhabitants of the top of the water (0–5 cm), which occupy that region at all times or only at night (small crustaceans, fish fry).

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References in periodicals archive

Nevertheless, the impact of latitudinal differences on the functions of the neuston in the fragmentation and transport of organic matter to greater depths is not fully understood (Zaitsev, 2005; Koski et al, 2007).

Abundance and spatial distribution of neustonic copepodits of Microsetella rosea (Harpacticoida: Ectinosomatidae) along the western Magellan coast, southern Chile

1).--Larvae were collected from the eastern Bering Sea to northern California, using neuston nets, bongo nets, and Tucker trawls, from January to September, with peak abundance in May.

Larval descriptions of two eastern North Pacific Cryptacanthodid species: Cryptacanthodes aleutensis and Cryptacanthodes giganteus

Thirty-two samples were collected using a modified David neuston net (David, 1965), with a catamaran frame sustaining a 4 m long net of 333 [micro]m mesh size, and a 30 x 15 cm rectangular mouth opening.

Occurrence, distribution and abundance of Halobates micans Eschscholtz, 1822 (Heteroptera, Gerridae) along the southeastern Brazilian coast/Ocorrencia, distribuicao e abundancia de Halobates micans Eschscholtz, 1822 (Heteroptera, Gerridae) na costa sudeste do Brasil

Taxonomic composition and distribution of Euphausiacea and Decapoda (Crustacea) in the neuston of the Bay of Fundy, Canada, J.

Life history of the sand shrimp, Crangon septemspinosa Say, in a southern Gulf of St. Lawrence estuary

Neuston was sampled using 50 x 30 cm Sameoto neuston net equipped with a 0.505 mm mesh net and a plastic cod end.

The ragfish, Icosteus aenigmaticus Lockington, 1880: a synthesis of historical and recent records from the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea

Whereas the pelagic realm is home to phytoplankton, zooplankton, neuston, nekton, and flying organisms that feed near the surface, the chapter mentions only phytoplankton, crustaceans, and three small mesopelagic fishes, thereby omitting gelatinous zooplankton, squids, sharks, mackerels, tunas, bill fishes, sea turtles, seabirds, pinnipeds, and cetaceans.

Marine Biodiversity: Patterns and Processes

We monitored daily water-column supply of Dungeness crab megalopae over the bottom during the newmoon settlement pulse in May 1992 with two techniques: plankton nets moored above the bottom and neuston nets pushed through surface slicks (i.e., estuarine water-mass fronts).

Pre- and post-settlement determinants of estuarine Dungeness crab recruitment

A life zone, however, is what students found when they cast a special net called a neuston tow into the open ocean.

To sea for themselves: a group of teens sets sail on a three-week learning adventure

Terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates in the neuston of the Bay of Fundy, Canada.

Fluvial transport of terrestrial and aquatic insects into an estuary along the central Texas coast

Larval and early juvenile stages occur in the neuston (upper few meters) layer (Shenker, 1988).

Patterns of movement, growth, and survival of adult sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) at contrasting depths in slope waters off Oregon