Pelagic zone
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The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word pelagic is derived from Ancient Greek πέλαγος 'open sea'. The pelagic zone ca
Some representative ocean animals (not drawn to scale) within their approximate depth-defined ecological habitats. Marine microorganisms also exist on the surfaces and within the tissues and organs of the diverse life inhabiting the ocean, across all ocean habitats. The animals rooted to or living on the ocean floor are not pelagic but are benthic animals.
The yellow bellied sea snake as it glides across the surface of the ocean.
The pelagic wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) ranges over huge areas of ocean and can circle the globe.
Pelagic food web
Neritic zone
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The neritic zone is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately 200 meters in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relativ
Sargassum seaweed drifting in the neritic zone provides food and shelter for small epipelagic fish.