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Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the "zoo-" prefix comes from Ancient Greek: ζῷον, romanized: zôion, lit. 'animal'), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents.
Zooplankton (from Greek zoon, or animal) are small protozoans or metazoans (e.g. crustaceans and other animals) that feed on other plankton. Some of the eggs and larvae of larger nektonic animals, such as fish, crustaceans, and annelids , are included here.
Now, zooplankton are animals. They feed on nutrients in the water, phytoplankton and other zooplankton. ... Most animals, both invertebrates (such as crustaceans like crabs, lobsters, and shrimp ...
A planktivore is an aquatic organism that feeds on planktonic food, including zooplankton and phytoplankton. [1] [2] Planktivorous organisms encompass a range of some of the planet's smallest to largest multicellular animals in both the present day and in the past billion years; basking sharks and copepods are just two examples of giant and microscopic organisms that feed upon plankton.
For example, zooplankton are widespread microscopic animals and protists that feed on algae and detritus in the ocean, such as foraminifera. Microfauna also aid in digestion and other processes in larger organisms.
Jellyfish are slow swimmers, and most species form part of the plankton. Traditionally jellyfish have been viewed as trophic dead ends, minor players in the marine food web, gelatinous organisms with a body plan largely based on water that offers little nutritional value or interest for other organisms apart from a few specialised predators such as the ocean sunfish and the leatherback sea turtle.
Many zooplankton are tiny animals found with the phytoplankton in oceanic surface waters, and include tiny crustaceans, and fish larvae and fry (recently hatched fish). Most zooplankton are filter feeders, and they use appendages to strain the phytoplankton in the water. Some larger zooplankton also feed on smaller zooplankton.
Zooplankton: Called nonconstitutive mixotrophs by Mitra et al., 2016. [40] Zooplankton that are photosynthetic: microzooplankton or metazoan zooplankton that acquire phototrophy through chloroplast retention a or maintenance of algal endosymbionts. Generalists Protists that retain chloroplasts and rarely other organelles from many algal taxa