Plankton

(This is not what real plankton looks like. )

• From the Greek word “planktos” meaning to drift– They cannot swim against a current

The Base of the Ocean Food Web

• Plankton can be in any of the kingdoms of life– Archaebacteria– Bacteria– Protista– Fungi– Plantae– Animalia

• Holoplankton: organisms that are plankton their entire lives – Example: Diatoms

• Meroplankton: organisms that are plankton for only part of their lives– Example: Starfish

Phytoplankton

• Obtain food through photosynthesis• Converts CO2 and water to O2 and sugar– Sunlight is the energy source that powers this

• 70-80% of the world’s oxygen is produced by phytoplankton

• Phytoplankton live primarily in the euphotic and photic zones because they rely on the sunlight

DIATOMS

• Kingdom Protista– They are a type of algae (singular is alga)

• They have cell walls made of silica– Material in glass

• Very beautiful when viewed under a microscope

Diatoms Continued

• The glassy shell is called a frustule– Has two halves and resembles a box

Diatom Reproduction

Usually asexual reproduction

Frustules get smaller and

smaller.Why do diatoms get extremely small during periods of high

reproduction called blooms?

Dinoflagellates• Kingdom Protista• Two flagella

– one wrapped around a groove along the middle of the cell

– One trailing behind it for navigation• Cell wall made of plates of cellulose• Zooxanthellae is a dinoflagellate• Causes red tides• Bioluminescent species

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2xh9-UPSlU

Zooplankton

• Animal like plankton• They are heterotrophs, so they eat/absorb

food into their bodies• Often eat phytoplankton

Foraminifera

• Sometimes called forams• Kingdom Protista• Use pseudopodia that go through pores to catch food• Their shells sink to the bottom of the ocean to form

an ooze• Helps form limestone and chalk• http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lm9hUj2h_0&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL7B21BFCC020490B6

Famous foramsHomotrema rubrum is a foram that is bright red and lives on corals.

Very common in Bermuda; skeletons made the island’s famous pink beaches.

Radiolarians

• Spherical• Shells of silica• Pseudopodia to eat• Also makes ooze

Ciliates

• Many hair like extensions called cilia to move• Very common as freshwater Paramecium

Zooflagellates

• A flagellated organism from the Kingdom Protista

• Doesn’t have a shell like dinoflagellates– Also not autotrophic

Jellyfish

• Kingdom Animalia• Cannot swim against current, so they are

plankton• Wash up on beaches easily• We will learn a lot more about jellyfish soon

Siphonophores

• Kingdom Animalia• Related to jellyfish, but not exactly the same• Very long and actually made of many tiny

animals• Very fragile• Most live in deep ocean– Exception is Portuguese Man of War that so many

have heard horror stories about

Krill• Kingdom

Animalia• Class Crustacea– Look like tiny

shrimp• Very important

part of food web• Especially

important in Antarctic Ocean Ecosystem

Copepods

• Kingdom Animalia (Class Crustacea)• Related to crabs and lobsters• Often parasites, but there are some that are a great

source of food for fish• If you find one, don’t be worried it’s a parasite because

those need to be attached to something else to stay alive

• Two main parts of body and two large antennae