Wildlife
The sea bed, or benthic zone, is inhabited by animals and plants that either live permanently on, burrow within, or are closely associated with the bottom of the ocean. Species found here are dictated more by the substrate - rock, sand, mud or coral, for example - than by the depth of water overhead. Many are specially adapted to living on the substrate and some to high pressure as the continental shelves gives way to the abyssal plains in deeper waters.
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Watery desert
Sand specialists like the goatfish adapt to life on barren ocean floors.
Sand specialists like the goatfish adapt to life on barren ocean floors.
Eating habits
Stingrays, garden eels and gobies forage and feed.
Stingrays, garden eels and gobies forage and feed.
Life on the sea bed
Extraordinary creatures overcome harsh conditions at the bottom of the sea.
Extraordinary creatures overcome harsh conditions at the bottom of the sea. Shots courtesy of WHOI.
Underwater Skomer
Iolo Williams visits Skomer Island marine reserve - Wales' only marine nature reserve.
Iolo Williams visits Skomer Island marine reserve and takes a look at the unique landscape found under the sea here.
Rich pastures
Seagrass beds are a rich habitat for many creatures.
Seagrass beds are a rich habitat for many creatures.
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. Organisms living in this zone are called benthos. They generally live in close relationship with the substrate bottom; many such organisms are permanently attached to the bottom. The superficial layer of the soil lining the given body of water, the benthic boundary layer, is an integral part of the benthic zone, as it greatly influences the biological activity which takes place there. Examples of contact soil layers include sand bottoms, rocky outcrops, coral, and bay mud.
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Useful behaviours for this habitat
Ecozones where this habitat is found
Other Marine habitats
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Narwhal
Sperm whale
Green sea turtle
Sea turtles
Cartilaginous fish
Lemon shark
Rays, skates and sawfish
Stingrays
Seahorses and pipefish
Anglerfish
Frogfish
Ray-finned fishes
Gobies
North Pacific giant octopus
Hermit crabs
Sea scorpions
Sunflower star
Crown-of-thorns starfish
Giant tube worm
Pompeii worm
Purple sea urchin
Scallops
Trilobites