Benthic locomotion

Benthic locomotion is movement along or close to the bottom of an aquatic environment. It includes crawling, walking, burrowing, and gliding by aquatic organisms.

Undulatory locomotion: Movement produced by waves of bending that travel along an animal’s body or appendages. Eels and other elongated animals use body waves to move over or through bottom habitats.
Sea star: A marine echinoderm with a central disk and typically five arms. Sea stars crawl over seafloors while searching for prey such as mollusks.
Substrate (biology): The surface or material on which an organism lives or moves. Rock, sand, mud, and vegetation offer different grips and obstacles for locomotion.
Swimming: Movement through water by generating thrust with body or appendage motions. Swimming primarily moves an animal through the water column rather than along the bottom.
Tube feet: Hydraulic appendages of echinoderms used for attachment, feeding, and movement. Sea stars coordinate tube feet to grip surfaces and crawl across them.
Horseshoe crab: A marine arthropod with a domed shell, book gills, and a long tail spine. Its walking legs move it across tidal flats and shallow seabeds.
Aquatic locomotion: Movement by organisms through or across water, including swimming and bottom-associated travel. Benthic movement is one way aquatic animals move through their environment.
Pelagic zone: The open-water region of a body of water, away from its bottom and shore. Pelagic movement occurs away from the bottom that defines benthic locomotion.
Lateral undulation: A swimming or crawling gait in which side-to-side body waves propel an animal forward. Many bottom-dwelling fish and snakes use this gait while moving across the substrate.
Flatfish: A group of bottom-associated fish with both eyes on one side of the head. Flatfish settle on the seabed and use fin movements to reposition or bury themselves.

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