Oceanic Glossary: Pelagic

Pelagic: (1) Pertaining to the part of the open sea or ocean comprising the water column, i.e., all of the sea other than that near the coast or the ocean floor (2) Any water in the sea that is not close to the bottom or near to the shore is in the pelagic zone. The word pelagic comes from the Greek πέλαγος or pélagos, which means "open sea." The pelagic zone can be thought of in terms of an imaginary cylinder or water column that goes from the surface of the sea almost to the bottom (3) Pelagic fish live in the water column of coastal, ocean and lake waters, but not on the bottom of the sea or the lake. They can be contrasted with demersal fish, which do live on or near the bottom, and reef fish which are associated with coral reefs.