What Do You Really Know About Plankton?

Name means: “Drifters” or “Wanderers”

So. . .are they autotrophs or heterotrophs?

They can be either one!

Autotrophs vs. HeterotrophsMost autotrophs use sunlight to make energy

Heterotrophs eat autotrophs and other heterotrophs to obtain energy

6 H20 + 6 CO2 +solar energy--> C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Who are the Marine Autotrophs?

Tiny marine plants called Phytoplankton– producers in the oceanic food web

Plankton

Different wavelengths penetrate to different depths, So notice that all wavelengths other than blue get absorbed in the water above 100 m

Where are Phytoplankton found?

Phytoplankton are found in the photic zone (upper part of the ocean)

Weird Phytoplankton Fact:Some phytoplankton can be very dangerous when they

“bloom” (reproduce rapidly)

PhytoplanktonDiatoms & Dinoflagellates

Silica-glassy case

Phytoplankton cont.

Diatoms -common in colder waters-silica based bodies (glassy) (siliceous)-when they die and sink, form Diatomaceous ooze

Dinoflagellates-common in warmer waters-two tails (why?)-some light up (bioluminescence)-some live symbiotically with corals (Zooxanthellae)-when they die and sink, form cysts and can cause harmful

algal blooms (HAB’s)

Who are the Marine Heterotrophs?

(Not always) tiny marine animals called Zooplankton–consumers in the oceanic food web

Reminder: Zooplankton are not always tiny, but they are drifters!

Typical Marine Food Web:

More Vocabulary

Plankton can be divided into lifestyles: 1)Meroplankton , which merely spend SOME of

their lives as driftersand

2) Holoplankton, which spend their WHOLE lives drifting

Guess what these Meroplankton “Grow Up” to be” and what they do when they’re done with the

“drifter” lifestyle

How do we “hunt” for plankton?

So is Plankton from Sponge Bob Zooplankton

or Phytoplankton?