mesopelagic

adjective

me·so·pe·lag·ic ˌme-zə-pə-ˈla-jik

ˌmē-,

-sə-

: of or relating to oceanic depths from about 600 feet to 3000 feet (200 to 1000 meters)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Economy of arm autotomy in the mesopelagic squid Octopoteuthis deletron. —

Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 1 Aug. 2012 These warm eddies contain a higher density of mesopelagic prey, acoustic surveys have shown. —

Stephanie Pain, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2022 In the 19th century, naturalists believed that little lived deeper than 500 meters or so — but in the 1940s, Navy sonar operators discovered the deep scattering layer, a zone where their sonar bounced off multitudes of mesopelagic organisms. —

Stephanie Pain, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2022 An ectoparasitic, mesopelagic shark, it is known for removing plugs of tissue by biting larger animals (such as bigger fish, sharks, cephalopods, and marine mammals. —

Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021 Turns out that small prey, larger mesopelagic species, and/or species that exhibit diel vertical migration are more important for the cookiecutter sharks studied here. —

Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 23 Sep. 2021 Expedition scientists also want to study mesopelagic organisms’ bioluminescent flashing patterns. —

Larry Greenemeier, Scientific American, 3 Mar. 2014 The North American academic community can only supply about 12 ROVs capable of standing up to the pressure and darkness of the mesopelagic zone. —

Rachel Brown, National Geographic, 17 Feb. 2017 Earlier this month, an oarfish, a creature usually found in mesopelagic zones 200 to 1,000 feet below sea level, became the subject of fascination after surfacing in Carmen, Agusan Del Norte. —

Sarah Gibbens, National Geographic, 27 Feb. 2017 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mesopelagic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.