free-swimming
Moving through water
Free-swimming describes aquatic organisms that move independently through water rather than attaching to surfaces or drifting passively.
The term appears in biology for life stages or species capable of active locomotion: The larvae are free-swimming for several weeks before settling on the reef.
It distinguishes mobile creatures from sessile ones like barnacles or corals.
Drifting in water
- pelagicOf the open sea
- driftingMoving without purpose
- glidingEngineless aerial movement
- floatingStaying atop liquid
propelling · undulating · streamlined · hydrodynamic · buoyant · motile · self-propelled · darting
Immature feeding stage
- medusaFree-swimming cnidarian form
- juvenileYoung person or animal
- dispersalSpreading in many directions
- metamorphosisProfound biological restructuring
planktonic
Drifting in water
floating · propelling · undulating · streamlined · hydrodynamic · buoyant · motile · self-propelled · darting · cruising
larva
Immature feeding stage
- medusaFree-swimming cnidarian form
- juvenileYoung person or animal
- dispersalSpreading in many directions
metamorphosis · settlement · hatching · spawning · developmental