Animals that draw water through aspects of their bodies to remove small organisms and other particles as .

Filter feeders include but are not limited to suspension feeders. Suspension feeders, that is, feed on materials that are found in water whereas among filter feeders are organisms that consume materials that are so large that technically they are not "suspended" in water. This distinction, though, is not necessarily terribly robust.

Examples of filter feeders include (which are crustaceans), , bivalves, lancelets, sponges, tunicates, various fish, etc.

It is important to keep in mind that filter feeders don't all consume the same size particles. The very largest filter feeders, , are consuming whole animals (), while very small filter feeders are consuming bacteria. Arguably the smallest of all filter feeders are protists such as .

Video (Excellent introduction)