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Plankton The Drifters Two kinds of plankton Phytoplankton (Producers) Photosynthesis (Autotrophs) 1/2 of world’s primary production and oxygen Zooplankton (Consumers) Link to rest of food web Herbivores and carnivores Where? Euphotic zone in neritic and oceanic waters Most abundant in temperate and subpolar seas Why? Supplies food to organisms below 3 Types of Phytoplankton Diatoms Dinoflagellates Coccolithophorids Diatoms Diatoms Most important primary producers in temperate and polar regions With lots of nutrients and warm temp. get blooms in spring (rapid reproduction) Diatoms-Structure Cells with a silica shell (glass) called frustule 2 halves like a petri dish with nucleus and chloroplasts inside Diatom Reproduction Cell division (Asexual) Split and each half grows new shell (Sometimes do sexual reproduction) Dead Diatoms Sink and make sand! 6 millions pounds refined everyday from beaches Used in paints, extend life of tires and shoes Toothpaste,kitty litter Diatoms Can’t Swim! To stay afloat: Increase surface area and drag (Be flat, Long spines, or form chains) Store lipids (oil) to be less dense than water Dinoflagellates Prefer warmer waters Can swim up and down in water column Dinoflagellate- Structure 2 unequal flagella One wrapped around middle (belt) One for movement Cell wall with plates of cellulose Dinoflagellates Reproduction Cell Division, very rarely sexual reproduction Dinoflagellates- Red Tide Dinoflagellates Red Tide Massive blooms (thousand cells in one drop of water!) Water turns orange or red-brown Produce poisons Kills fish, stored in mussels and clam tissue Eat clams get Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Dinoflagellates Bioluminescence Dinoflagellates Bioluminescence Produce light Bright if disturbed by boat or wave crashing Coccolithophorids Oceanic (not neritic) Prefer warm water Coccolithophorid “Round stone bearers” Coccolithophorid Bloom Coccolithophorid Structure Flagellates Spherical, covered with button-like stuctures called coccoliths made of calcium carbonate Dead coccolithophorids Settle to ocean floor Thick deposits of Chalk! White cliffs of Dover in Southern England White Cliffs of Dover Zooplankton Eat ?? Link to rest of food chain Zooplankton - Crustaceans Arthropods (exoskeleton, jointed appendages Shrimps, Crabs, Lobsters Crustaceans - Copepods Crustaceans - Copepods Most abundant zooplankton Use mouthparts to draw in water with food (phyto- and zooplankton -other copepods too) Use 1st pair of antennae to swim Crustaceans - Krill Shrimp-like, up to 6 cm long Prefer cold oceanic water Filter feeders - eat phytos, fecal pellets, other zooplankton Favorite food: Diatoms Krill Crustacean - Larvae Crabs, shrimp, barnacles, lobsters Temporary zooplankton Crustaceans - Amphipods Small, like copepods Arrowworm Eat prey as large or larger than themselves Eat copepods Jellyfish and Combjellies Weak swimmers Can be large and drift with currents Eat small fish and zooplankton