Editing Benthos (section)

==Food sources==
[[File:Scheme eutrophication-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|right| {{center|Effect of [[eutrophication]]<br />on marine benthic life}}]]

The main food sources for the benthos are [[phytoplankton]] and organic detrital matter.<ref>{{Citation |last=Smetacek |first=Victor |title=The Supply of Food to the Benthos |date=1984 |work=Flows of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems: Theory and Practice |pages=517–547 |editor-last=Fasham |editor-first=M. J. R. |url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-0387-0_20 |access-date=2024-09-23 |place=Boston, MA |publisher=Springer US |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4757-0387-0_20 |isbn=978-1-4757-0387-0}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Snelgrove |first=Paul V.R. |title=Marine Sediments |date=2013 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Biodiversity |pages=105–115 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-384719-5.00008-3 |access-date=2024-09-23 |publisher=Elsevier |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-384719-5.00008-3 |isbn=978-0-12-384720-1}}</ref> In coastal locations, organic run off from land provides an additional food source.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Benthos |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/benthos |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Meiofauna and bacteria consume and recycle organic matter in the sediments, playing an important role in returning [[nitrate]] and [[phosphate]] to the pelagic.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nunnally |first=Clifton C. |title=Benthic–Pelagic Coupling: Linkages Between Benthic Ecology and Biogeochemistry and Pelagic Ecosystems and Process |date=2019 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences |pages=660–662 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/benthic-pelagic-coupling |access-date=2024-09-23 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11087-5 |isbn=978-0-12-813082-7}}</ref>

The depth of water, temperature and salinity, and type of local substrate all affect what benthos is present. In coastal waters and other places where light reaches the bottom, benthic [[photosynthesis|photosynthesizing]] [[diatoms]] can proliferate. [[Filter feeder]]s, such as [[sponge]]s and [[bivalve]]s, dominate hard, sandy bottoms. Deposit feeders, such as [[polychaete]]s, populate softer bottoms. Fish, such as [[dragonets]], as well as [[sea star]]s, [[snail]]s, [[cephalopod]]s, and [[crustacean]]s are important predators and scavengers.

Benthic organisms, such as [[sea star]]s, [[oyster]]s, [[clam]]s, [[Holothuroidea|sea cucumber]]s, [[brittle star]]s and [[sea anemone]]s, play an important role as a food source for [[fish]], such as the [[California sheephead]], and [[human]]s.

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