The common frog, one of the most ubiquitous semiaquatic amphibians in Europe
Pachygrapsus marmoratus, a semiterrestrial crab
Hunting stance of Dolomedes minor, a semiaquatic spider

In biology, semiaquatic refers to various macroorganisms that live regularly in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. When referring to animals, the term describes those that actively spend part of their daily time in water (in which case they can also be called amphibious), or land animals that have spent at least one life stages (e.g. as eggs or larvae) in aquatic environments. When referring to plants, the term describes land plants whose roots have adapted well to tolerate regular, prolonged submersion in water, as well as emergent and (occasionally) floating-leaved aquatic plants that are only partially immersed in water.

Examples of semiaquatic animals and plants are given below.

Semiaquatic animals

Semiaquatic animals include:

Semiaquatic plants

The common reed, a ubiquitous semiaquatic angiosperm of the grass family

Semiaquatic plants include:

Notes

  1. At least one individual of a normally fully terrestrial praying mantis species, Hierodula tenuidentata, has learned to opportunistically prey on fish.[1]
  2. Technically, most land crabs fall into this category, since most must return to bodies of water to release their eggs; the few exceptions, such as members of genus Geosesarma,[2] are found among the Grapsidae (sensu lato) and Potamoidea (sensu lato).[3]

References

  1. Battiston, R.; Puttaswamaiah, R.; Manjunath, N. (2018). "The fishing mantid: predation on fish as a new adaptive strategy for praying mantids (Insecta: Mantodea)". Journal of Orthoptera Research. 27 (2): 155–158. doi:10.3897/jor.27.28067.
  2. Tan, C.G.S.; Ng, P.K.L. (1995). "Geosesarma notophorum sp. nov. (Decapoda, Brachyura, Grapsidae, Sesarminae), a Terrestrial Crab from Sumatra, with Novel Brooding Behaviour". Crustaceana. 68 (3): 390–395. doi:10.1163/156854095X00557.
  3. Burggren, W.W.; McMahon, B.R., eds. (1988). Biology of the Land Crabs. Cambridge University Press. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-0521306904.
  4. Newman, L.J.; Cannon, L.R.G. (1997-06-30). "A new semi-terrestrial acotylean flatworm, Myoramyxa pardalota gen. et sp. nov. (Plehniidae Polycladida) from southeast Queensland, Australia". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 42 (1): 311–314. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
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