A bottom feeder is an aquatic animal that feeds on or near the bottom of a body of water. The body of water could be the ocean, a lake, a river, or an aquarium. Bottom feeder is a general term which is used particularly in the context of aquariums. Biologists often use the term benthos, particularly for bottom feeding invertebrates, such as shellfish, crabs, crayfish, sea anemones, starfish, snails, bristleworms and sea cucumbers. However the term benthos includes all aquatic life that lives on or near the bottom, which means it also includes non-animals, such as plants and algae.
Biologists also use specific terms that refer to bottom feeding fish, such as demersal fish, groundfish, benthic fish and benthopelagic fish. Examples of bottom feeding fish species groups are flatfish (halibut, flounder, plaice, sole), eels, cod, haddock, bass, grouper, carp, bream (snapper) and some species of catfish and shark.
Read more about Bottom Feeder: Biological Trends, Aquarium Care
Famous quotes containing the word bottom:
“How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our hearts’ honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg—a cosy, loving pair.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)