What are plankton?

1
What are plankton?
The word plankton comes from the Greek
planktos, which means wandering or drifting. It
describes the millions of free-floating organisms
living in the ocean and other aquatic
ecosystems. Many kinds of organisms make up
plankton some spend their entire life drifting
in the upper ocean, others are members of the
plankton community for a time before they develop
into stationary or free-swimming adults.
2
(No Transcript)
3
There are three main types of plankton

• Plant plankton, also known as phytoplankton
• Zooplankton
• Bacteria

4
KINGDOM MONERA
5
KINGDOM MONERA
Bacteria some are photosynthetic, but the
majority feed on dead organisms.

• Cyanobacteria a moneran phytoplankton
• Photosynthetic and can fix atmospheric nitrogen
• Reproduce by fission
• Can aggregate to form colonies
• bacteria - single-cell, no organelles
• cyanobacteria - blue-green algae
• photosynthesis but no chloroplasts
• chlorophyll a phycocyanin
• produced first O2 in atmosphere
• photobacteria - bioluminescent
• in plankton animal tissues
• thermobacteria - chemosynthesis
• convert hydrogen sulfide H2S
• in hydrothermal vents hot springs
• base of aphotic food chains

6
(No Transcript)
7
Bioluminescent Bacteria

• For centuries, sailors in the Indian Ocean have
  told stories of seas glowing with a dim, white
  light at night. Satellite images have now
  confirmed the appearance of what seem to be
  bioluminescent bacteria, right where a ship's
  crew reported seeing the "milky seas" 11 years
  ago. Scientists say this rare phenomenon could be
  a way for the bacteria to attract the attention
  of fish so they can enter their guts and live
  there.

8
Cancer Killer Found In The OceanMarine
Biotechnologists Treat Cancer With Mud-loving
Ocean Bacteria

• Biomedicine scientists identified and sequenced
  the genes of a bacteria called Salinispora
  tropica. It produces anti-cancer compounds and
  can be found in ocean sediments off the Bahamas.
  A product called salinosporamide A has shown
  promise treating a bone marrow cancer called
  multiple myeloma, as well as solid tumors.

9
Protistan phytoplankton

• Phylum Dinopyhta
• Dinoflagellates
• Have flagella
• Responsible for red tide that interferes with
  nerve impulses
• bioluminescent

• Phylum Chrysophyta
• Single celled
• Silica or calcium carbonate internal skeleton
• 2 marine groups
• Golden brown algae
• Diatoms
• Most abundant
• Cell wall(frustule)
• Asexual reproduction
• Can reproduce one million daughter cells in 3
  weeks

Plankton naturally sink and are brought up
through the water column by mixing and upwellings
10
(No Transcript)
11
Phyto plankton(plant) (free floating)
Plant plankton, also known as phytoplankton
single-celled photosynthetic organisms which
manufacture food using energy from sunlight.
12










Zoo plankton (animal) (free floating)
Zooplankton single- and many-celled animals
that feed on live plankton.
13
Phylum Sarcomastigophora

• Foraminiferans
• Make up half of all protozoans
• Mostly marine
• Have calcium carbonate shells(tests)
• Mostly benthic or live attached to another
  organism

• Radiolarians
• Entirely marine
• Internal skeleton of silica
• Have psuedopods

14
White Cliffs of Dover Foram tests or Globigerina
15
Phylum ciliophora

• Most abundant ciliate
• Have cilia
• Have tentacles that feed
• Mostly parasitic