Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Relating to or inhabiting the layer of the water column in the open ocean that lies between the epipelagic and bathypelagic layers at depths of about 200 to 1,000 meters (656–3,280 feet).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Describing a
pelagic zone of the oceans between thephotic epipelagic and theaphotic bathypelagic zones
Etymologies
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Examples
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Shooting thousands of feet below the surface, the oil dispersed through the mesopelagic stratosphere, for which 80% of the DSL dwells.
Gulf Oil Spill's Worst-Hit Victims (Hint: You Can't See Them) 2010
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Discovered by hydrographers in the 1920's, the DSL accounts for 80% of all the biomass located in the mesopelagic zone, Whitty writes.
Gulf Oil Spill's Worst-Hit Victims (Hint: You Can't See Them) 2010
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Distribution and ecology of mesopelagic fishes and cephalopods.
Fisheries and aquaculture in the North Pacific (Bering Sea) 2009
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Mercury concentrations in prey fish indicate enhanced bioaccumulation in mesopelagic environments.
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Instead, trapped in the deep, the oil fouls the ocean's twilight and dark zones: the mesopelagic and the bathypelagic (bathos: deep).
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The lantern fish, bristlemouths, hatchetfish, and crustaceans of the DSL are believed to account for 80 percent of all the biomass in the mesopelagic zone, with lantern fish alone making up some 660 million tons of living fish-perhaps the greatest distribution, population, and species diversity of all ocean fish on the planet.
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It could be the first time the fish has been filmed alive in the mesopelagic layer of the ocean, which extends from 200m-1km below the surface, he said.
National Nine News 2010
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The mesopelagic fauna also includes many kinds of squid, krill, and siphonophores and ctenophores (jellyfish-like animals), as well as worms, sea butterflies, and larvae that comprise the DSL zooplankton.
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By adjusting internal dimmer switches, these mesopelagic ( "middle sea," or twilight zone) fish match the slightest overhead ambient light level-be it the faint glow of the sun or moon-making their silhouettes less visible to predators above and below.
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The lantern fish, bristlemouths, hatchetfish, and crustaceans of the DSL are believed to account for 80 percent of all the biomass in the mesopelagic zone, with lantern fish alone making up some 660 million tons of living fish-perhaps the greatest distribution, population, and species diversity of all ocean fish on the planet.
MotherJones.com 2010
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