plankton (this is not what real plankton looks like. )
TRANSCRIPT
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