1. (This is not what real plankton looks like.  )

2. From the Greek word “planktos” meaning to drift
They cannot swim against a current
(picture)

3. The Base of the Ocean Food Web
Plankton can be in any of the kingdoms of life
Archaebacteria
Bacteria
Protista
Fungi
Plantae
Animalia

4. Holoplankton: organisms that are plankton their entire lives
Example: Diatoms
Meroplankton: organisms that are plankton for only part of their lives
Example: Starfish

5. 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

6. DIATOMS Kingdom Protista They have cell walls made of silica
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

7. Diatoms Continued The glassy shell is called a frustule
Has two halves and resembles a box

8. Frustules get smaller and smaller.
Diatom Reproduction
Frustules get smaller and smaller.
Why do diatoms get extremely small during periods of high reproduction called blooms?
Usually asexual reproduction

9. 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

10. Zooplankton Animal like plankton
They are heterotrophs, so they eat/absorb food into their bodies
Often eat phytoplankton

11. 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

12. Famous forams
Homotrema rubrum is a foram that is bright red and lives on corals.
Very common in Bermuda; skeletons made the island’s famous pink beaches.

13. Radiolarians Spherical Shells of silica Pseudopodia to eat
Also makes ooze

14. Ciliates Many hair like extensions called cilia to move
Very common as freshwater Paramecium

15. Zooflagellates A flagellated organism from the Kingdom Protista
Doesn’t have a shell like dinoflagellates
Also not autotrophic

16. 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

17. 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

18. Krill Kingdom Animalia Class Crustacea Very important part of food web
Look like tiny shrimp
Very important part of food web
Especially important in Antarctic Ocean Ecosystem
Krill

19. 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