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nekton

American  
[nek-ton, -tuhn] / ˈnɛk tɒn, -tən /

noun

  1. the aggregate of actively swimming aquatic organisms in a body of water, able to move independently of water currents.

nekton British  
/ ˈnɛktɒn /

noun

  1. the population of free-swimming animals that inhabits the middle depths of a sea or lake Compare plankton

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
nekton Scientific  
/ nĕk′tən,-tŏn′ /

  1. The collection of marine and freshwater organisms that can swim freely and are generally independent of currents, ranging in size from microscopic organisms to whales.

  2. Compare benthos plankton

Other Word Forms

  • nektonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of nekton

1890–95; < German, noun use of neuter of nēktós swimming (verbid of nḗchein to swim; nectopod )

Vocabulary lists containing nekton

Earth Science - High School

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Marine Biology - Middle School

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Marine Biology - High School

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Longhurst, A. R. & Glen Harrison, W. Vertical nitrogen flux from the oceanic photic zone by diel migrant zooplankton and nekton.

From Nature • Apr. 17, 2018

He proceeded to draw divisions between the bottom organisms without power of motion, benthon, the nekton motile life in mid-water, and the plankton or floating life.

From Scott's Last Expedition Volume I by Scott, Robert Falcon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.