Marine Zooplankton Terms

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Zooplankton

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unicellular and multicellular organims not capable of extensive horizontal movement; swimming abilities are insufficient to prevent them from being passively transported by currents

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Holoplankton

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organims spending their entire life history in the plankton

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Meroplankton

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organims spending only part of thier life in the plankton

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Tychoplankton

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organisms only spending part of 24 hour period in the plankton

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Pleuston

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organisms living at the surface with body parts projecting into the air

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Neuston

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organisms living in the uppermost few tens of millimeters or centimeters of the surface microlayer

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Plankton

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organisms living the water column not capable of extensive horizontal movement

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Epibenthic (demersal) plankton

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organisms living close to the bottom or temporarily living in direct contact with the bottom

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Micron (um)

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1/1000ths of a millimeter (mm)

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Femtoplankton

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0.02-0.2 um

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Picoplankton

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0.2-2.0 um

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Nanoplankton

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2.0-20 um

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Microplankton

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20-200 um

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Mesoplankton

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.2-200 mm

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Macroplankton

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2-20 cm

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Megaplankton

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>20 cm

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Autotrophy

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able to fix inorganic carbon to organic carbon using an external source of energy (sunglight)

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Heterotrophy

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obtain organic carbon by consuming other forms of life

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Mixotrophy

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primarily autotrophic organisms that eat bacteria and other phytoplankton

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Bacterivory

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organisms that consume bacteria for food

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Diploblastic

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organisms possessing 2 well defined body layers (epidermis and gastrodermis)

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Nematocysts

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organelles inside cells called "cnidae" that fire a barbed harpoon

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Bioluminescence

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a chemical process in which luciferin reacts with oxygen in prescence of the enzyme luciferase, resulting in light

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Direct development

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reproductive strategy where a larval form of an organism develops into an adult without any intermediate metamorphic stages

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Self- Fertilization

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gamete produced from the fertilization of eggs and sperm originating from a single individual (hermaphrodite)

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Strobilation

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a reproductive process specific to scyphozoans where individual clones called ephyra successively bud off from a single polyp

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Gonochoristic

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species where male and femals sexes exist in separate individuals

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Statocysts

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sensory organs used for orientation (allows animals to know up and down)

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Brooders

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organsims who carry thier fertilized eggs during development

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Broadcast

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fertilization an development takes place in the water column

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Encystment

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developing a hard outer covering when a cell enters a resting stage in response to unfavorable environmental conditions

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Eversible

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able to be turned inside out

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Proboscis

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prey capture apparatus used by the phylum Nemertea

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Detritus

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a mixture of living and dead small particulate organic matter

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Calcite and aragonite

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two forms of calcium carbonate (CaCO3)

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Internal waves

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waves propagating at the interface of two water masses of different densities