释义 |
epifauna|ˈɛpɪfɔːnə| [a. Da. epifauna (C. G. J. Petersen 1913, in Beretn. f. d. Danske biol. Station XXI (in Fiskeri-Beretn. 1912). 15), f. epi- + fauna.] A collective term for the animal life of a region that lives on the surface of a marine deposit or another animal or plant.
1914C. G. J. Petersen in Rep. Danish Biol. Station 1913 XXI. 16, I would therefore propose, that..we can distinguish between an In-fauna, which is connected with the ordinary, level, uniform sea-bottom,..and various On-faunas (epifaunas), which occur in connection with such objects on the sea-bottom as stones, piles, shells, rocks or plants; the occurrence of such epifaunas is dependent on the distribution of these objects in the bottom. 1951Arch. Néerlandaises de Zool. X. 38 Many members of the oyster's epifauna find their food on the shell itself. 1959H. Barnes Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. I. 46 For the animals living on the surface or on other animals, the so-called epifauna, the material must be ‘scraped’ off the bottom and when the animals are relatively sparsely distributed a considerable amount of ground may have to be covered. 1964Adv. Marine Biol. II. 172 Nearly every type of marine deposit..is inhabited by an assemblage of animals, some of which live on the surface (the so-called ‘epifauna’), while others (the ‘infauna’) burrow or lie buried beneath the surface. Hence epiˈfaunal a., pertaining to, having the characteristics of, epifauna.
1960McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. I. 340/2 Caprellids commonly occur on epifaunal growths in shallow water. 1969Science 28 Mar. 1419/2 In the past most deep-sea collections were made with coarse-meshed trawls which collected predominately larger epifaunal organisms. |