Question

The habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called ____ habitats.

Answer 1

Hint: Habitat may be defined as a natural environment of a plant, animal or other organism. Habitat is characterized by physical as well as biological features.

Complete Answer:
Physical factors include soil, moisture, range of temperature, and light. Biological or biotic factors include predators and food availability. Types of habitats are:-
- Terrestrial habitat involves forests, deserts and grasslands.
- Freshwater habitat involves rivers, lakes, ponds, bogs etc.
- Marine habitats include bays, open sea, sea bed, water zones etc.

Aquatic habitat includes habitats that live and propagate in water and includes water bodies only. Mainly of two types: 1) Marine 2) Freshwater.
- Animals that live in water are known as Aquatic animals. Many insects such as mosquitoes, caddisflies etc have aquatic life. The animals that live in water may breathe air and extract oxygen which dissolved in water by organs like skin or through gills.
- Aquatic plants that live in aquatic environments like saltwater or freshwater are known as hydrophytes or macrophytes. Macrophyte is a plant that grows in or near water. The largest aquatic plant is water lily and the smallest one is duckweed.

Macrophytes are classified on the basis of growth:
- Emergent
- Submerged- rooted, unrooted and attached.
- Floating-leaved
- Free-floating

So the habitats of plants and animals that live in water are called aquatic habitats..

Note: Protection of habitats is very necessary to maintain the biodiversity. Habitat can be the interior of a stem, a rock, a moss for the parasitic organism the habitat is part of the host's body.