Flora and fauna occurring on the bottom of a sea or lake. Benthic organisms may crawl, burrow, or remain attached to a substrate. Comparenekton; neuston; plankton.
Geology and Earth Sciences
In freshwater and marine ecosystems, the collection of organisms attached to or resting on the bottom sediments (i.e. epifaunal), and those which bore or burrow into the sediments (i.e. infaunal).