filter feeder

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noun

an aquatic animal that feeds on particles or small organisms strained out of water by circulating them through its system: includes most of the stationary feeders, as clams, oysters, barnacles, corals, sea squirts, and sponges.

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Origin of filter feeder

First recorded in 1925–30

Words nearby filter feeder

filterable virus, filter bed, filter bubble, filter cake, filter factor, filter feeder, filter feeding, filter out, filter paper, filter press, filter pump

How to use filter feeder in a sentence

Ailes explains that because the bivalves are filter feeders, they have actually helped to clear particulate matter from the water.
Dead ships find solace under the treacherous surface of the Great Lakes|Margo Milanowski|December 6, 2021|Popular-Science
These intrepid filter feeders engineer their ecosystems to the benefit of others from seaweeds to fish spawn.
Undersea vertical farms could be the future of sustainable seafood|Maria Finn/Hothouse|October 13, 2021|Popular-Science
That lingering could help the filter feeders catch more plankton.
How intricate Venus’s-flower-baskets manipulate the flow of seawater|Nikk Ogasa|July 21, 2021|Science News
The eagle shark’s broad, rounded head, long jaws and small teeth hint that it may have been a filter feeder, sucking in floating plankton from seawater.
An ancient shark’s weird fins helped it glide like a manta ray|Carolyn Gramling|March 18, 2021|Science News

Scientific definitions for filter feeder

filter feeder

An aquatic animal, such as a clam or sponge, that feeds by filtering tiny organisms or fine particles of organic material from currents of water that pass through it.