The image contains diverse planktonic organisms, ranging from photosynthetic cyanobacteria and diatoms to many different types of zooplankton, including both holoplankton (permanent residents of the plankton) and meroplankton (temporary residents of the plankton, e.g., fish eggs, crab larvae, worm larvae).

Aug 15, 2022 · Planktonic algae are at the base of the food chain in the pond or lake. They are fed on by zooplankton (microscopic animals) which, in turn, become food for fish. Ponds with abundant planktonic algae are often able to support larger populations of …

Phytoplankton are photosynthesizing microscopic protists and bacteria that inhabit the upper sunlit layer of marine and fresh water bodies of water on Earth. Paralleling plants on land, phytoplankton undertake primary production in water, [2] creating organic compounds from carbon dioxide dissolved in the water.

Feb 21, 2025 · Plankton, marine and freshwater organisms that, because they are nonmotile or too small or weak to swim against the current, exist in a drifting state. Plankton is the productive base of both marine and freshwater ecosystems, providing food …

Plankton are marine drifters — organisms carried along by tides and currents. Phytoplankton blooms in the Barents Sea, shown in natural color from NASA's Aqua satellite on July 10, 2014. The solid white area in the top right corner is cloud cover. Credit: NASA's Earth Observatory.

Plankton and planktonic bacteria are actually quite different from one another. Plankton is comprised of two main types, neither of which is bacterial. One type of plankton, the one of most relevance to this volume, is phytoplankton.

Nov 23, 2024 · Plankton are primarily divided into broad functional (or trophic level) groups: Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, and Bacterioplankton. Plankton cover a wide range of sizes, including microscopic to large organisms such as jellyfish. Plankton community into broad producer, consumer, and recycler groups.

Mar 29, 2023 · Plankton is the collection of organisms that drift with tides and currents. Two important groups are phytoplankton (plant-like) and zooplankton (animal-life), but plankton include species from all the kingdoms of life, plus viruses.

Mar 17, 2025 · Plankton range in size from tiny microbes (1 micrometre [0.000039 inch] or less) to jellyfish whose gelatinous bell can reach up to 2 metres in width and whose tentacles can extend over 15 metres. However, most planktonic organisms, called plankters, are less than 1 millimetre (0.039 inch) long.

Jul 25, 2022 · Planktonic organisms: Plankton vary widely in quality in different types of freshwater reservoirs. This type of plankton is found in large quantities in freshwater. (1) Algae: Plankton is representative of all classes of algae. However, some classes are widespread in inland water bodies.