Epipsammon
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The community of microscopic species (e.g., diatoms) that attach themselves to grains of sand. uncountable
"The benthic microflora of marine sands includes bacteria, blue-green bacteria (cyanobacteria), autotrophic flagellates, and diatoms. Those attached to sand grains are generally known as epipsammon (Fig. 4.1)."
- 2 Microscopic flora and fauna found on the surface of and/or attached to sand grains. wordnet
- 3 The community of biota or fauna that live on top of sand. uncountable
"These groups are 1) the epipsammon, or surface-dwelling, generally motile macrofauna; 2) the endopsammon, or burrowing species that are too large to live in interstitial spaces; and 3) the mesopsammon, or interstitial fauna. The epipsammon is limited to a few groups such as fish or birds which are strong or speedy enough to exploit this turbulent environment."
Example
More examples"The benthic microflora of marine sands includes bacteria, blue-green bacteria (cyanobacteria), autotrophic flagellates, and diatoms. Those attached to sand grains are generally known as epipsammon (Fig. 4.1)."
Etymology
From epipsammic + -on, compare psammon.
More for "epipsammon"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.