Definition: aquatic organisms that construct and inhabit simple unbranched vertical shafts with only one opening to the surface. These are primarily above-sediment filter-feeders, surface deposit-feeders, and subsurface deposit-feeders (head-down, conveyor-belt feeders)
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: aquatic consumers oriented head-down in sediments, where they feed at depth and transport sediment through their guts to the sediment surface.[18] Major upward-conveyor groups include burrowing polychaetes like the lugworm, Arenicola marina, and Thalassinid shrimps.
