plankton

(noun)

a generic term for all the organisms that float in the sea

Related Terms

Examples of plankton in the following topics:

  • Protists as Primary Producers, Food Sources, and Symbionts

    • In some cases, as in plankton, protists are consumed directly.

  • Biofilms and Disease

    • It has been said that they can resist up to 1,000 times the antibiotic concentrations used to kill the same bacteria when they are free-living or planktonic.

  • Extremophiles and Biofilms

    • Interactions among the organisms that populate a biofilm, together with their protective exopolysaccharidic (EPS) environment, make these communities more robust than free-living, or planktonic, prokaryotes.
    • The sticky substance that holds bacteria together also excludes most antibiotics and disinfectants, making biofilm bacteria hardier than their planktonic counterparts.

  • Chromalveolata: Stramenopiles

    • These protists are a component of freshwater and marine plankton.
    • Golden algae are found in both freshwater and marine environments, where they form a major part of the plankton community.

  • The Role of Species within Communities

    • Asian carp were introduced to the United States in the 1970s by fisheries and sewage treatment facilities that used the fish's excellent filter feeding capabilities to clean their ponds of excess plankton.
    • Silver carp eat plankton that native mussels and snails feed upon, reducing this food source by a different alteration of the food web.

  • Phylum Rotifera

    • Rotifers are typically free-swimming and truly planktonic organisms, but the toes or extensions of the foot can secrete a sticky material forming a holdfast to help them adhere to surfaces.

  • Chordates and the Evolution of Vertebrates

    • The primary foods of tunicates are plankton and detritus.

  • The Purpose and Process of Photosynthesis

    • Cyanobacteria and planktonic algae can grow over enormous areas in water, at times completely covering the surface.

  • Archaeplastida

    • Chlorophytes primarily inhabit freshwater and damp soil; they are a common component of plankton.

  • Gnathostomes: Jawed Fishes

    • Some species of sharks and rays are suspension feeders that feed on plankton.