intertidal

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   relating to the part of a shore covered at high tide and exposed at low tide

   Mussels and barnacles thrive on the intertidal rocks.

2. 2
   noun

   the intertidal zone, or the community of organisms living within it

   Researchers surveyed the intertidal before the incoming tide covered it.

Formed from inter-, 'between,' + tidal. It names the ecological band between the usual high- and low-water marks, alternately submerged and exposed as the tide rises and falls.

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