Pigeon Key: Plankton

-A single celled or multi-cellular organism deriving from the work "plankto" meaning drifter; moves with the current

Two types of plankton
Zooplankton: animal-like plankton that eats heterotrophs and autotrophs(copepods, krill, larvae, and ctenophores)
Phytoplankton: plant-like plankton that uses photosynthesis to create energy(diatoms, dinoflagellates, and green algae)

-Lion's mane jellyfish is the largest type of plankton because it has to swim with the current and cannot swim against it

-Meroplankton lives only part of its life as plankton(crab larvae, shrimp larvae, snails, etc.)

-Plankton is mostly found in the poles because they need sunlight and nutrients and they can get both from the upwellings in the poles

-Phytoplankton prefer turbid water because the darker it is the more likely it is to nutrient rich.  It is called the neuston zone which is the first three feet of water.

-Zooplankton is more commonly found in the Diel Migration which is daily because other fish and nutrients also follow that pattern

Three ways plankton stay afloat
1. Flagella and cilia
2. Buoyancy bubble
3. Droplets of oil

-It is false that terrestrial plants make more oxygen than all the plankton combined