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[3] Sverdrup provides a simple formula based on several assumptions that relates the critical depth to plankton growth and loss rates and light levels. Under his hypothesis, net production in the mixed layer exceeds losses only if the mixed layer is shallower than the critical depth.
They are mostly found in the sunlit zone of the water column, less than 200 metres deep, which is sometimes called the epipelagic or photic zone. Ichthyoplankton are planktonic, meaning they cannot swim effectively under their own power, but must drift with the ocean currents. Fish eggs cannot swim at all, and are unambiguously planktonic.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 5 February 2025. Organisms living in water or air that are drifters on the current or wind This article is about the marine organisms. For other uses, see Plankton (disambiguation). Marine microplankton and mesoplankton Part of the contents of one dip of a hand net. The image contains diverse planktonic ...
Many species have relatively long pelagic larval durations on the order of weeks or months. [19] [20] During this time, larvae feed and grow, and many species metamorphose through several stages of development. For example, barnacles molt through six naupliar stages before becoming a cyprid and seeking appropriate settlement substrate. [21]
Planktology is the study of plankton, various small drifting plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit bodies of water.Planktology topics include primary production, energy flow and the carbon cycle.
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.
A salp (pl.: salps, also known colloquially as “sea grape”) or salpa (pl.: salpae or salpas [2]) is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate in the family Salpidae. It moves by contracting, thereby pumping water through its gelatinous body; it is one of the most efficient examples of jet propulsion in the animal kingdom. [3]
Thirty years ago, it was hypothesized that the speed of division for micro-organisms in central oceanic ecosystems was very slow, of the order of one week or one month per generation. This hypothesis was supported by the fact that the biomass (estimated for example by the contents of chlorophyll ) was very stable over time.