meiofauna

/ ˈmaɪəʊˌfɔːnə /

noun

1. the component of the fauna of a sea or lake bed comprising small (but not microscopic) animals, such as tiny worms and crustaceans

Other Word Forms

• meiofaunal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of meiofauna¹

C20: from Greek meiōn less + _fauna

Example Sentences

Thiel was interested in the region’s largely unstudied meiofauna — the tiny animals that live on and between the nodules.

Read more on Nature

Living between the wet sand grains is a whole universe of microscopic life: the meiofauna.

Read more on Scientific American

Perhaps the habitats least explored and prospected for life are the most familiar: soil, sediments in ponds, and the seashore — the home of the meiofauna, creatures that make their living between particles of minerals and detritus.

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Meiofauna creatures at their largest are just at the verge of unaided visibility, down to about 40 micrometres in diameter — a world literally in the interstices, too small for every day, but too big to trouble micro- or molecular biologists.

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