What is "nekton"

nekton \nekton\ n. The aggregate of actively swimming animals in a body of water ranging from microscopic organisms to whales.

1893, from German nekton (van Heusen, 1890), from Greek nekton, neuter of nektos "swimming," from nekhein "to swim" (see natatorium).

n. (context zoology English) All organisms in the ocean that are capable of swimming independently of currents.

n. the aggregate of actively swimming animals in a body of water ranging from microscopic organisms to whales

Nekton or necton refers to the aggregate of actively swimming aquatic organisms in a body of water. The term was proposed by German biologist Ernst Haeckel to differentiate between the active swimmers in a body of water, and the passive organisms that were carried along by the current, the plankton. As a guideline, nektonic organisms have a high Reynolds number (greater than 1000) and planktonic organisms a low one (less than 10). However, some organisms can begin life as plankton and transition to nekton later on in life, sometimes making distinction difficult when attempting to classify certain plankton-to-nekton species as one or the other. For this reason, some biologists choose not to use this term.