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zooplankton

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zooplankton

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thumb|upright=1.8| Zooplankton sample including several species of copepods (1–5), [[gastropod larva (6) doliolids (7), fish eggs (8), and decapod larva (9) (Photo by Iole Di Capua)]]

~32 min read

Encyclopedic overview

23 sections
Contents
  • Overview
  • Size classification
  • Microzooplankton
  • Mesozooplankton
  • Taxonomic groups
  • Protozooplankton
  • Radiolarians
  • Foraminiferans
  • Amoeba
  • Ciliates
  • Dinoflagellates
  • Mixoplankton
  • Planktonic metazoa (animals)
  • Holoplankton and meroplankton
  • Ichthyoplankton
  • Gelatinous zooplankton
  • Role in food webs
  • Role in biogeochemistry
  • Sloppy feeding and release of DOM
  • Carbon export
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

thumb|upright=1.8| Zooplankton sample including several species of copepods (1–5), [[gastropod larva (6) doliolids (7), fish eggs (8), and decapod larva (9) (Photo by Iole Di Capua)]]

Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community, having to consume other organisms to thrive. The name comes from Ancient Greek ζῷον (zōîon), meaning "animal", and πλαγκτός (planktós), meaning "drifter, wanderer, roamer", and thus, "animal drifter". Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequently, they drift or are carried along by currents in the ocean, or by currents in seas, lakes or rivers.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “zooplankton” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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