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Zooplankton (/ ˈ z oʊ. ə p l æ ŋ k t ən /; [2] / ˌ z oʊ. ə ˈ p l æ ŋ k t ən /) [3] are heterotrophic (sometimes detritivorous) plankton.The word zooplankton is derived from Ancient Greek: ζῷον, romanized: zôion, lit.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 5 February 2025. Organisms living in water or air that are drifters on the current or wind This article is about the marine organisms. For other uses, see Plankton (disambiguation). Marine microplankton and mesoplankton Part of the contents of one dip of a hand net. The image contains diverse planktonic ...
The pelagic food web, showing the central involvement of marine microorganisms in how the ocean imports nutrients from and then exports them back to the atmosphere and ocean floor. A marine food web is a food web of marine life. At the base of the ocean food web are single-celled algae and other plant-like organisms known as phytoplankton.
A planktivore is an aquatic organism that feeds on planktonic food, including zooplankton and phytoplankton. [1] [2] Planktivorous organisms encompass a range of some of the planet's smallest to largest multicellular animals in both the present day and in the past billion years; basking sharks and copepods are just two examples of giant and microscopic organisms that feed upon plankton.
The royal gramma is a planktivore, eating mostly zooplankton and crustaceans. The royal gramma is also a cleaner fish. It removes the ectoparasites (a parasite that lives on the skin of a fish) from other fish and learns to eat dead food, such as crustaceans and fish flesh. They prefer to pick their food from the middle of the water column.
Smaller, warm-water siphonophores typically live in the epipelagic zone and use their tentacles to capture zooplankton and copepods. [11] Larger siphonophores live in deeper waters, as they are generally longer and more fragile and must avoid strong currents. They mostly feed on larger prey. [11]
Calanus finmarchicus is considered to be a large copepod, being typically 2–4 millimetres (0.08–0.16 in) long. [citation needed] Copepods like C. finmarchicus represent a major part of dry weight (biomass) mesozooplankton in pelagic ecosystems. [4] Calanus finmarchicus is high in protein and polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids. [5]
Calanoida is an order of copepods, a group of arthropods commonly found as zooplankton. The order includes around 46 families with about 1800 species of both marine and freshwater copepods between them. [2]