ABSTRACT

The neritic province also has been called the neritic, subtidal, sublittoral, or offshore zone. This is somewhat confusing because this puts zones within zones, and nomenclature varies between general ecology and marine ecology/biology texts. Also, there are differences in how “littoral” is used in freshwater and marine ecosystems, so I use intertidal and subtidal to avoid this problem. The neritic province (sensu Sumich and Morrissey 2004) is the area of oceans where the pelagic realm lies over continental shelves, usually at depths less than 200 m, and it covers about 13% of the surface of the earth (Angel 1997). The neritic province extends from the subtidal coastline to the edge, or break of the continental shelf, where the oceanic province begins as the continents slope to the abyss. The pelagic part of the neritic is usually called the photic zone, and the continental shelf is part of the benthic realm (Figure 16.3). Most ‘shes can be placed in one or the other of these two realms (i.e., as a pelagic or benthic species) based on feeding adaptations and/or morphology.