English

Alternative forms

Polyodon spathula, a filter feeder

• filter-feeder

Noun

filter feeder ‎(plural filter feeders)

1. (biology) Any aquatic animal that obtains nourishment by filtering particles of food from the water in which it lives.
   • 2015, Theo Tait, ‘Don't wear yum-yum yellow’, London Review of Books, vol. 34 no. 15:

     The best-protected species are the big, peaceful filter feeders, the basking shark and particularly the whale shark, with its photogenic polka dots and mysterious long-range migration patterns.

Derived terms

• filter feed

Translations