Ocean Ecology Glossary

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Ocean Ecology Glossary

• Definitions

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Benthos

• Benthos are the organisms which live on, in, or
  near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone .
  The main food sources for benthos are plankton
  and organic runoff from land, some organisms here
  are sea stars, clams, oysters and sea anemones.

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Biomass

• Biomass, in ecology, is the mass of living
  biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem
  at a given time

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Carnivore

• A carnivore meaning 'meat eater animal that
  derives its energy from a diet consisting mainly
  of animal tissue

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Copepod

• Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found
  in the sea. Many species are planktonic (drifting
  in sea waters), but more are benthic

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Crustacean

• Crustaceans include various familiar animals,
  such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill
  and barnacles.

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Diatom

• Diatoms are a major group of algae, and are one
  of the most common types of phytoplankton.
  Diatoms are producers within the food chain.

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Dinoflagellate

• The dinoflagellates are marine plankton. About
  half of all dinoflagellates are photosynthetic,
  and these make up the largest group of eukaryotic
  algae aside from the diatoms.

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Filter Feeder

• Filter feeders are animals that feed by straining
  suspended food particles from water, typically by
  passing the water over a specialized filtering
  structure. Some animals that use this method are
  clams, krill, sponges, some fish and sharks, and
  baleen whales.

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Herbivore

• A herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat
  plants.

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Mollusk

• An invertebrate animal usually enclosed in a
  shell, such as an oyster, mussel or clam. Squid
  and octopus are also mollusks.

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Omnivore

• Omnivores are species that eat both plants and
  animals as their primary food source.

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Pelagic

• Any water in the sea that is not close to the
  bottom is in the pelagic zone. It is a water
  column that goes from the surface of the sea
  almost to the bottom.

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Phytoplankton

• Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of
  the plankton community. They obtain energy
  through the process of photosynthesis and must
  therefore live in the well-lit surface layer

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Zooplankton

• Zooplankton are the heterotrophic type of
  plankton. The name of zooplankton is derived from
  the Greek zoon meaning "animal", and planktos
  meaning "wanderer" or "drifter".