Pleuston


Pleuston are the organisms that live in the thin surface layer existing at the air-water interface of a body of water as their habitat. Examples include some cyanobacteria, some gastropods, the ferns Azolla and Salvinia and the seed plants Lemna, Wolffia, Pistia, Eichhornia crassipes and Hydrocharis. Some fungi and fungi-like protists may be also found.

Neuston

The term Neuston is used either:
Neustons, broadly defined, are made up of some species of fish, beetles, protozoans, bacteria and spiders. Springtails in the genera Podura and Sminthurides are almost exclusively neustonic, while Hypogastrura species often aggregate on pond surfaces. Water striders such as Gerris are common examples of insects that support their weight on water's surface tension. By extension, the term may also refer to non-organismal floating aggregations.

Distinction versus other aquatic life

are distinguished from nekton, and benthos.