Living on or near the ocean floor, typically referring to fish and other marine organisms. Demersal species are bottom-dwellers that feed on the seafloor or just above it.
From Latin 'demersus' meaning 'plunged down' or 'submerged', from 'de-' (down) and 'mergere' (to plunge). The term entered marine biology vocabulary in the 19th century to distinguish bottom-dwelling fish from surface swimmers.
Demersal fish like cod and halibut have evolved flattened bodies and downward-facing mouths perfectly adapted for seafloor living! Many demersal species are critically important to commercial fisheries but are especially vulnerable to bottom trawling, which destroys their benthic habitat.
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