biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, semiaquatic can refer to various types of animals that spend part of their time in water, or plants that naturally grow partially submerged in water. Examples are given below.

Semiaquatic animals

Semi

aquatic animal An aquatic animal is any animal, whether invertebrate or vertebrate, that lives in water for most or all of its lifetime. Many insects such as mosquitoes, mayflies, dragonflies and caddisflies have aquatic larvae, with winged adults. Aquatic anim ...

s include: *

Vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

Amphibious fish Amphibious fish are fish that are able to leave water for extended periods of time. About 11 distantly related genera of fish are considered amphibious. This suggests that many fish genera independently evolved amphibious traits, a process known ...

; also several types of normally fully aquatic fish such as the grunion and

plainfin midshipman ''Porichthys notatus'' is a species of batrachoid toadfish. It is a member of the midshipman genus, ''Porichthys'', and is known by the common name plainfin midshipman. It is native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, where its distribution extends al ...

that spawn in the

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

** Some amphibians such as newts and salamanders, and some frogs such as

fire-bellied toads fire-bellied toads are a group of six species of small frogs (most species typically no longer than ) belonging to the genus ''Bombina''. The name "fire-bellied" is derived from the brightly colored red- or yellow-and-black patterns on the toa ...

and

wood frogs ''Lithobates sylvaticus'' or ''Rana sylvatica'', commonly known as the wood frog, is a frog species that has a broad distribution over North America, extending from the boreal forest of the north to the southern Appalachians, with several nota ...

. ** Some reptiles such as crocodilians,

turtles Turtles are an order (biology), order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) an ...

water snakes Different snakes are called water snakes. "Water snake" is also sometimes used as a descriptive term for any snakes that spend a significant time in or near fresh water, such as any species belonging to the family Acrochordidae. They should not be ...

and marine iguanas. ** Penguins. ** Some rodents such as beavers, muskrats and capybaras. **Some insectivorous mammals such as

desmans The desman, a snouted and naked-tailed diving insectivore of the tribe Desmanini (also considered a subfamily, Desmaninae), belongs to one of two Eurasian species of the mole family, Talpidae. This tribe consists of two monotypic genera of semi ...

, water shrews and

platypuses The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotyp ...

. ** Some carnivoran mammals, including

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

, polar bears and otters. **

Hippopotamuses The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

. * Semiterrestrial

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea ...

s of the intertidal zone, such as the "cliff-clinging"

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

Colobocentrotus atratus ''Colobocentrotus atratus'', the helmet urchin or shingle urchin, is a species of sea urchin in the family Echinometridae. In Hawaii it is known as "hāʻukeʻuke." It is found on wave-swept intertidal shores in the Indo-West Pacific, particul ...

'' and the

starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...

Pisaster ochraceus ''Pisaster ochraceus'', generally known as the purple sea star, ochre sea star, or ochre starfish, is a common seastar found among the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Identified as a keystone species, ''P. ochraceus'' is considered an important indi ...

'' *

Arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

s **

Aquatic insect Aquatic insects or water insects live some portion of their life cycle in the water. They feed in the same ways as other insects. Some ''diving'' insects, such as predatory diving beetles, can hunt for food underwater where land-living insects c ...

s (e.g., dragonflies) with at least one nonaquatic life-cycle stage (e.g.,

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

s), or amphibious insects (e.g.,

amphibious caterpillar Amphibious caterpillar refers to over 40 species of semiaquatic caterpillars endemic to Hawaii that are the only insects that live as readily in water as on land. In 2010, Daniel Rubinoff and Patrick Schmitz at the University of Hawaii at Manoa fir ...

s or the ant ''

Polyrhachis sokolova '' Polyrhachis sokolova'' is a species of ant from Hong Kong that recently was discovered to be capable of surviving tidal inundations. Researchers at the James Cook University gained attention in 2006 after finding and reporting this behavior ...

''). Members of the hemipteran infraorders Gerromorpha and

Nepomorpha Nepomorpha is an infraorder of insects in the "true bug" order (Hemiptera). They belong to the "typical" bugs of the suborder Heteroptera. Due to their aquatic habits, these animals are known as true water bugs. They occur all over the world o ...

occupy a variety of semiaquatic and aquatic niches, with many of the former locomoting on the water surface; a few of these are marine (e.g., ''

Halobates ''Halobates'' or sea skaters are a genus with over 40 species of water striders. Most ''Halobates'' species are coastal and typically found in sheltered marine habitats (a habitat where a few other genera of water striders also live), but five ...

'', ''

Hermatobates ''Hermatobates'' is a genus of wingless marine bugs placed as the sole genus in the family Hermatobatidae that are sometimes known as coral-treaders. They are quite rare and known only from coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. During low tide, ...

''). ** Semiaquatic

springtail Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...

s, such as ''

Anurida maritima ''Anurida maritima'' (seashore springtail) is a cosmopolitan collembolan of the intertidal zone. It is often found in aggregations of up to several hundred on the surface of rock-pools. Description ''A. maritima'' is a wingless animal, typical ...

'' ** Semiterrestrial

malacostraca Malacostraca (from New Latin; ) is the largest of the six classes of crustaceans, containing about 40,000 living species, divided among 16 orders. Its members, the malacostracans, display a great diversity of body forms and include crabs, lobst ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s (e.g., many

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

s, such as ''

Pachygrapsus marmoratus ''Pachygrapsus marmoratus'' is a species of crab, sometimes called the marbled rock crab or marbled crab, which lives in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It is dark violet brown, with yellow marbling, and w ...

'', some

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

s, such as ''

Orchestia gammarellus ''Orchestia gammarellus'' is a species of amphipod in the family Talitridae. Description This species grows to a maximum length of 1.8 cm and is brown or greenish brown in colour. It has a layer of pores that it secretes wax through to pre ...

'', some

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

s, such as ''

Ligia oceanica ''Ligia oceanica'', the sea slater, common sea slater, or sea roach, is a littoral zone woodlouse, living on rocky seashores of the European North Sea and Atlantic coastlines. ''L. oceanica'' is oval, twice as long as broad, and may reach up to ...

'' and some

barnacle A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in eros ...

s, such as ''

Balanus glandula ''Balanus glandula'' (North American Acorn Barnacle, Common Acorn Barnacle) is one of the most common barnacle species on the Pacific coast of North America, distributed from the U.S. state of Alaska to Bahía de San Quintín near San Quintín, ...

'') **

Horseshoe crab Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura. Despite their name, they are not true crabs or crustaceans: they are chelicerates, most closely related to arachn ...

s are mostly aquatic but spawn in the intertidal zone; juveniles live in tidal flats ** Semiaquatic

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s, such as '' Ancylometes'' or '' Dolomedes'' (these are distinct from the almost fully aquatic '' Argyroneta'') ** An amphibious

centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

, ''

Scolopendra cataracta ''Scolopendra cataracta'' is a species of centipede in the family Scolopendridae. It is the first known amphibious centipede, growing to up to in length. Discovery George Beccaloni, an entomologist and curator at the Natural History Museum, L ...

'' * Semiaquatic

annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

s, such as the

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

Sparganophilus ''Sparganophilus'', the only genus in the family Sparganophilidae, is a group of long, slender, limicolous (mud-dwelling) earthworms native to North America. The number of species is unknown, most of them are undescribed, throughout the contine ...

'' *

Mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s ** Intertidal

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

s, such as ''

Enigmonia ''Enigmonia'' is a genus of saltwater clams, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Anomiidae, the jingle shells. ''Enigmonia aenigmatica'', the mangrove jingle shell clam, is the only species in this monotypic genus. It is found living on mang ...

'', which lives on mangroves ** Intertidal

chiton Chitons () are marine molluscs of varying size in the class Polyplacophora (), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known as gumboots or sea cradles or coat-of-mail s ...

s, such as ''

Acanthopleura granulata ''Acanthopleura granulata'', common name the West Indian fuzzy chiton (also known as Curbs or Sea Cradles), is a medium-sized tropical species of chiton. This type of chiton's activity does not depend on spring-neap oscillations leading to lower l ...

'' ** Semiterrestrial

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

s, such as the intertidal ''

Patella vulgata ''Patella vulgata'', common name the common limpet or common European limpet is a species of sea snail. It is a typical true limpet; a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Patellidae, with gills.Gofas, S. (2014). Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758 ...

'', a

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" descended indep ...

; also amphibious

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

and

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

snails, such as '' Pomatiopsis'' or ''

Cerithideopsis scalariformis ''Cerithideopsis scalariformis'', commonly known as the ladder hornsnail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Potamididae. This amphibious species occurs in the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the ...

'', respectively * Semiterrestrial

flatworm The flatworms, flat worms, Platyhelminthes, or platyhelminths (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") are a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegment ...

s of the intertidal zone, such as the

acotylea Acotylea is a suborder of free-living marine turbellarian flatworms in the order Polycladida. Taxonomy * Superfamily Cryptoceloidea Faubel, 1984 ** Family Cryptocelidae Laidlaw, 1903 ** Family Discocelididae Laidlaw, 1903 ** Family Ilyplan ...

n '' Myoramyxa pardalota'' 2007 nymphaea lotus

Semiaquatic plants

Semi aquatic

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s include: * Semiaquatic

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s (e.g., mangroves,

water spinach ''Ipomoea aquatica'', widely known as water spinach, is a semi- aquatic, tropical plant grown as a vegetable for its tender shoots. ''I. aquatica'' is generally believed to have been first domesticated in Southeast Asia. It is widely cultivate ...

, water cabbage, and the entire order

Nymphaeales The Nymphaeales are an order (biology), order of flowering plants, consisting of three Family (biology), families of aquatic plants, the Hydatellaceae, the Cabombaceae, and the Nymphaeaceae (water lilies). It is one of the three orders of basal a ...

) * Semiaquatic

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s, such as

pond cypress ''Taxodium ascendens'', also known as pond cypress, is a deciduous conifer of the genus ''Taxodium'', native to North America. Many botanists treat it as a variety of bald cypress, ''Taxodium distichum'' (as ''T. distichum'' var. ''imbricatum'' ...

* Semi aquatic ferns, such as ''

Pilularia americana ''Pilularia americana'', the American pillwort, is an unusual species of fern. The fronds essentially consist of the petioles only, any form of flattened laminae having been lost. It is in the aquatic fern family Marsileaceae, and is related t ...

'' * A semiaquatic horsetail, ''

Equisetum fluviatile ''Equisetum fluviatile'', the water horsetail or swamp horsetail, is a vascular plant that commonly grows in dense colonies along freshwater shorelines or in shallow water in ponds, swamps, ditches, and other sluggish or still waters with mud bo ...

'' * Semiaquatic quillworts, such as ''

Isoetes melanospora ''Isoetes melanospora'', commonly known as black-spored quillwort or black-spored Merlin's grass, is a rare and endangered aquatic lycophyte endemic to the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina. It grows exclusively in shallow, temporary pool ...

'' * Semiaquatic

club moss Lycopodiopsida is a class of vascular plants known as lycopods, lycophytes or other terms including the component lyco-. Members of the class are also called clubmosses, firmosses, spikemosses and quillworts. They have dichotomously branching s ...

es, such as ''

Lycopodiella inundata ''Lycopodiella inundata'' is a species of club moss known by the common names inundated club moss, marsh clubmoss and northern bog club moss. It has a circumpolar and circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemisphe ...

'' * Semiaquatic

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es, such as ''

Sphagnum macrophyllum ''Sphagnum macrophyllum'', the largeleaf sphagnum, is a species of peat moss native to southern and eastern North America. It is known from every state from Texas to New Jersey as well as New York (state), New York, and the Canadian provinces of ...

'' * Semiaquatic liverworts, such as '' Riccia fluitans''

Notes

References

{{Reflist Broad-concept articles Aquatic ecology