What is plankton

If we could observe with a microscope the masses of water of the oceans, rivers, lakes and ponds, we could verify that they live, floating adrift, an amazing variety of planktonic organisms . From these living beings directly depend the other forms of life that are in the waters, from the simplest to the most evolved fish and mammals. But the importance of plankton does not end here, because due to the ecological ties that bind complicated chains to all beings exist in nature, its influence covers all forms of terrestrial life, then we explain what is the plankton, who what he eats and what function they have on earth.

Definition of plankton

Plankton is called those millions of heterogeneous organisms that live suspended in the water that covers the bark suspended in the waters that cover the earth's crust.

Characteristics of plankton

These millions of living beings that are the plankton can not move by themselves, they wander at the mercy of waves and currents. Most species are transparent with a certain iridescence, and present colors only under a microscope. The superficial species are bluish, and the other reddish ones. Some emit luminescence, like the noctiluca. Most species of plankton measure less than a millimeter, others, on the other hand, are larger, such as siphonophores, ctenophores and jellyfish.

Types of plankton

The plankton can be classified into two large groups: phytoplankton or plant plankton, consisting of unicellular, microscopic, chlorophyll-borne and green-tinged plants and zooplankton.

What is plankton

The plankton comprises green plants (algae) and bacteria that appear as isolated cells or forming colonies. The zooplankton or animal plankton is also composed of organisms that are microscopic or not visible to the naked eye, mainly protozoa (unicellular animals), rotifers (tiny animals) that measure between 10 thousandths of a millimeter and 0.5 millimeters long) and crustaceans, with a length that varies between 0.5 and 0.25 millimeters.

How the plankton moves

The animals that make up the zooplankton rise to the surface at night, submerging in the depths by day. This seems to be determined by different factors such as light, temperature, water salinity, gravity, etc., the most important being the conditions of light. When it is more intense, the animals sink to a depth where the light rays do not reach, and when the light diminishes, at nightfall, they ascend to feed on the phytoplankton.

The animals that eat the most plankton

Among mammals, the whale and among the fish, the giant shark, are the largest sea animals that feed on plankton. The Greenland whale is provided with a huge toothless mouth that communicates with a narrow pharynx. While swimming, he opens his jaws, which is filled with that "plankton soup".