Definition: The marine benthic biome (benthic meaning 'bottom') encompasses the seafloor and includes such areas as shores, littoral or intertidal areas, marine coral reefs, and the deep seabed.
Definition: Lecithotrophic larvae are provided with a source of nutrition to use during their dispersal, usually a yolk sac. They generally have greater dispersal potential than direct developers, but short pelagic larval durations relative to planktotrophic larvae.
Definition: a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure
