neuston

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neus·ton

(no͞o′stŏn, nyo͞o′-)

The collection of microscopic and small organisms that inhabit the region on or just below the surface of a body of water.

[Greek neuston, neuter of neustos, swimming, from nein, to swim; see (s)nāu- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

neuston

(ˈnjuːstən)

1. (Zoology) organisms, similar to plankton, that float on the surface film of open water

2. (Zoology) the ecosystem of the surface film of open water in which such organisms as copepods graze on tiny flagellates, bacteria, etc

[C20: via German from Greek neustos swimming, from nein to swim]

neusˈtonic adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

neus•ton

(ˈnu stɒn, ˈnyu-)

n.

the aggregate of minute aquatic organisms that float or swim in the surface film of a body of water.

[1925–30; < German (1917) < Greek, n. use of neuter of neustós swimming, verbal adj. of neîn to swim]

neus′tic, neus•ton′ic, adj.

References in periodicals archive ?

Though the mission will use hi-tech submersibles in its work, research began on Thursday with more modest equipment: a device to measure the water's chemistry and a Neuston net used to retrieve zooplankton.

Scientists begin exploring Indian Ocean depths in Seychelles

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Only by sweeping a neuston net over the surface could one try to estimate the densities of sea skaters in the whole area of the cove.

A Study of the Distributions of Two Endangered Sea Skaters Halobates matsumurai Esaki and Asclepios shiranui (Esaki) (Hemiptera: Gerridae: Halobatinae) with Special Reference to Their Strategies to Cope with Tidal Currents

The extracted data set contained 1077 samples of which 1051 were collected in neuston net tows and 26 in bongo net tows.

Occurrence of pelagic Sargassum in waters of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in response to weather-related hydrographic regimes associated with decadal and interannual variability in global climate

In the neuston, especially in coastal waters, members of the Microsetella genus are numerically dominant and highly abundant (Anraku, 1975; Dugas & Koslow, 1984; Uye et al., 2002; Zaitsev, 2005).

Abundance and spatial distribution of neustonic copepodits of Microsetella rosea (Harpacticoida: Ectinosomatidae) along the western Magellan coast, southern Chile

Prey use of the fishing spider Dolomedes triton (Pisauridae, Araneae): an important predator of the neuston community.

Predation of a pupfish by a fishing spider subsequently stolen by a diving beetle

Correlation of [sup.210]Po and [sup.210]Pb enrichments in the sea-surface microlayer with neuston biomass.

Understanding the radioactive ingrowth and decay of naturally occurring radioactive materials in the environment: an analysis of produced fluids from the Marcellus Shale

Interestingly, the nares are submerged during normal swimming but are held just above the surface of the water during the most common feeding mode, active surface suction feeding (Motta et al., 2010), so it is possible that whale sharks can respond to chemical cues both in solution and volatilized in the boundary layer of air above the neuston.

Foraging and ingestive behaviors of whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, in response to chemical stimulus cues

The neuston (upper 10-20 cm of surface water) is a unique and harsh habitat.

Larval descriptions of two eastern North Pacific Cryptacanthodid species: Cryptacanthodes aleutensis and Cryptacanthodes giganteus

palmyra from neuston tows taken offshore of Palmyra Atoll in the Line Islands.

The first record of Hermatobates from the Marshall Islands (Heteroptera: Hermatobatidae) clarifies the geographic range of H. palmyra

48 neuston samples, described in this paper, were collected along a single transect from Robinson Crusoe Island to Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific Ocean, shown in Fig.