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Normally they travel in large groups, which tends to result in huge swaths of them consuming all of the zooplankton in the area. This leads to detrimental impacts for the local ecosystem in which they travel through. Since they eat all the zooplankton, there is a lack of food for the other species relying on the plankton as their food source. [6]
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.
Fish larvae are part of the zooplankton that eat smaller plankton, while fish eggs carry their own food supply. Both eggs and larvae are themselves eaten by larger animals. [2] [3] Fish can produce high numbers of eggs which are often released into the open water column. Fish eggs typically have a diameter of about 1 millimetre (0.039 in).
Less is known about the feeding of the oceanic species, but they appear to mostly eat zooplankton, with other recorded items being floating insects, fish eggs and larvae, and dead jellyfish. [1] [3] Small prey is caught and eaten by a single Halobates, but larger prey such as small fish may be eaten by three or four Halobates at once.
Individuals smaller than about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) in length eat plankton and minuscule crustaceans, while larger individuals feed on small fish (like shad), as well as minnows. [6] Adult black crappies feed on fewer fish than white crappies do; instead they consume a larger volume of insects, insect larvae [ 17 ] and crustaceans. [ 7 ]
White crappies in the larval and juvenile stages of life eat zooplankton and continue to feed primarily on small invertebrates during their first year of life. [ 8 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ] When white crappies reach a length of 12–15 centimetres (4.7–5.9 in), they are considered adult.
Fish eggs cannot swim at all, and are unambiguously planktonic. Early stage larvae swim poorly, but later stage larvae swim better and cease to be planktonic as they grow into juvenile fish. Fish larvae are part of the zooplankton that eat smaller plankton, while fish eggs carry their own food supply.
The name "mosquitofish" was given because the fish eats mosquito larvae, and has been used more than any other fishes for the biological control of mosquitoes. [3] Gambusia typically eat zooplankton, beetles , mayflies , caddisflies , mites , and other invertebrates ; mosquito larvae make up only a small portion of their diet.