free-swimming

[free-swim-ing]

adjective

Zoology.

1. (of aquatic organisms) not attached to a base nor joined in a colony; capable of swimming about freely.

free-swimming

adjective

1. (of aquatic animals or larvae) not sessile or attached to any object and therefore able to swim freely in the water

Other Word Forms

• free-swimmer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of free-swimming¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

“Observations of free-swimming newborn white sharks are extremely rare,” says Tobey Curtis, a shark scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was not involved in the research.

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Currently, the researchers are refining their imaging techniques and experimental platform for a follow-up study to examine free-swimming sperm under similar conditions.

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Living throughout the world’s temperate and tropical seas, stalked barnacles begin life as free-swimming larvae that ride ocean currents until they settle, often en masse, on driftwood, a ship’s hull, or other floating objects.

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“Instead we relied on a spotter plane to find free-swimming sharks and radioed their locations to a research vessel,” the Aleutian Dream.

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What the finding means is that the ancestor of all animals, including sponges, already had a well-developed nervous system, and it probably was free-swimming, Cartwright adds.

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