Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community, having to consume other organisms to thrive. The name comes from Ancient Greek ζῷον (zōîon), meaning "animal", and πλαγκτός (planktós), meaning "drifter, wanderer, roamer", and thus, "animal drifter". Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequently, they drift or are carried along by currents in the ocean, or by currents in seas, lakes or rivers.
Zooplankton can be contrasted with phytoplankton (cyanobacteria and microalgae), which are the plant-like component of the plankton community (the "phyto-" prefix comes from , although taxonomically not plants). Zooplankton are heterotrophic (other-feeding), whereas phytoplankton are autotrophic (self-feeding), often generating biological energy and macromolecules through chlorophyllic carbon fixation using sunlightin other words, zooplankton cannot manufacture their own food, while phytoplankton can. As a result, zooplankton must acquire nutrients by feeding on other organisms such as phytoplankton, which are generally smaller than zooplankton. Most zooplankton are microscopic but some (such as jellyfish) are macroscopic, meaning they can be seen with the naked eye.
Many protozoans (single-celled protists that prey on other microscopic life) are zooplankton, including zooflagellates, foraminiferans, radiolarians, some dinoflagellates and marine microanimals. Macroscopic zooplankton include pelagic cnidarians, ctenophores, molluscs, arthropods and tunicates, as well as planktonic arrow worms and bristle worms.
The distinction between autotrophy and heterotrophy often breaks down in very small organisms. Recent studies of marine microplankton have indicated over half of microscopic plankton are mixotrophs, which can obtain energy and carbon from a mix of internal plastids and external sources. Many marine microzooplankton are mixotrophic, which means they could also be classified as phytoplankton.
Overview
Zooplankton (; ) are heterotrophic (sometimes detritivorous) plankton. The word zooplankton is derived from ; and .
Zooplankton is a categorization spanning a range of organism sizes including small protozoans and large metazoans. It includes holoplanktonic organisms whose complete life cycle lies within the plankton, as well as meroplanktonic organisms that spend part of their lives in the plankton before graduating to either the nekton or a sessile, benthic existence. Although zooplankton are primarily transported by ambient water currents, many have locomotion, used to avoid predators (as in diel vertical migration) or to increase prey encounter rate.
Just as any species can be limited within a geographical region, so are zooplankton. However, species of zooplankton are not dispersed uniformly or randomly within a region of the ocean. As with phytoplankton, 'patches' of zooplankton species exist throughout the ocean. Though few physical barriers exist above the mesopelagic, specific species of zooplankton are strictly restricted by salinity and temperature gradients, while other species can withstand wide temperature and salinity gradients. Zooplankton patchiness can also be influenced by biological factors, as well as other physical factors. Biological factors include breeding, predation, concentration of phytoplankton, and vertical migration. The physical factor that influences zooplankton distribution the most is mixing of the water column (upwelling and downwelling along the coast and in the open ocean) that affects nutrient availability and, in turn, phytoplankton production.
Through their consumption and processing of phytoplankton and other food sources, zooplankton play a role in aquatic food webs, as a resource for consumers on higher trophic levels (including fish), and as a conduit for packaging the organic material in the biological pump. Since they are typically small, zooplankton can respond rapidly to increases in phytoplankton abundance, for instance, during the spring bloom. Zooplankton are also a key link in the biomagnification of pollutants such as mercury.
Ecologically important protozoan zooplankton groups include the foraminiferans, radiolarians and dinoflagellates (the last of these are often mixotrophic). Important metazoan zooplankton include cnidarians such as jellyfish and the Portuguese Man o' War; crustaceans such as cladocerans, copepods, ostracods, isopods, amphipods, mysids and krill; chaetognaths (arrow worms); molluscs such as pteropods; and chordates such as salps and juvenile fish. This wide phylogenetic range includes a similarly wide range in feeding behavior: filter feeding, predation and symbiosis with autotrophic phytoplankton as seen in corals. Zooplankton feed on bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, other zooplankton (sometimes cannibalistically), detritus (or marine snow) and even nektonic organisms. As a result, zooplankton are primarily found in surface waters where food resources (phytoplankton or other zooplankton) are abundant.
Zooplankton can also act as a disease reservoir. Crustacean zooplankton have been found to house the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which causes cholera, by allowing the cholera vibrios to attach to their chitinous exoskeletons. This symbiotic relationship enhances the bacterium's ability to survive in an aquatic environment, as the exoskeleton provides the bacterium with carbon and nitrogen.
Size classification Body size has been defined as a "master trait" for plankton as it is a morphological characteristic shared by organisms across taxonomy that characterises the functions performed by organisms in ecosystems. It has a paramount effect on growth, reproduction, feeding strategies and mortality. One of the oldest manifestations of the biogeography of traits was proposed over 170 years ago, namely Bergmann's rule, in which field observations showed that larger species tend to be found at higher, colder latitudes. Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In the oceans, size is critical in determining trophic links in planktonic ecosystems and is thus a critical factor in regulating the efficiency of the biological carbon pump. Body size is sensitive to changes in temperature due to the thermal dependence of physiological processes. The plankton is mainly composed of ectotherms which are organisms that do not generate sufficient metabolic heat to elevate their body temperature, so their metabolic processes depends on external temperature. Consequently, ectotherms grow more slowly and reach maturity at a larger body size in colder environments, which has long puzzled biologists because classic theories of life-history evolution predict smaller adult sizes in environments delaying growth. This pattern of body size variation, known as the temperature-size rule (TSR), has been observed for a wide range of ectotherms, including single-celled and multicellular species, invertebrates and vertebrates.
The processes underlying the inverse relationship between body size and temperature remain to be identified. Despite temperature playing a major role in shaping latitudinal variations in organism size, these patterns may also rely on complex interactions between physical, chemical and biological factors. For instance, oxygen supply plays a central role in determining the magnitude of ectothermic temperature-size responses, but it is hard to disentangle the relative effects of oxygen and temperature from field data because these two variables are often strongly inter-related in the surface ocean.
Zooplankton can be broken down into size classes which are diverse in their morphology, diet, feeding strategies, etc. both within classes and between classes: Type of zooplanktonSize rangepicozooplankton2μmnanozooplankton2–20μmmicrozooplankton20–200μmmesozooplankton0.2–20 millimeters
Microzooplankton Microzooplankton are defined as heterotrophic and mixotrophic plankton. They primarily consist of phagotrophic protists, including ciliates, dinoflagellates, and mesozooplankton nauplii. Microzooplankton are major grazers of the plankton community. As the primary consumers of marine phytoplankton, microzooplankton consume ~ 59–75% daily of the marine primary production, much larger than mesozooplankton. That said, macrozooplankton can sometimes have greater consumption rates in eutrophic ecosystems because the larger phytoplankton can be dominant there. Microzooplankton are also pivotal regenerators of nutrients which fuel primary production and food sources for metazoans. Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Despite their ecological importance, microzooplankton remain understudied. Routine oceanographic observations seldom monitor microzooplankton biomass or herbivory rate, although the dilution technique, an elegant method of measuring microzooplankton herbivory rate, has been developed for over four decades (Landry and Hassett 1982). The number of observations of microzooplankton herbivory rate is around 1600 globally, far less than that of primary productivity (> 50,000). This makes validating and optimizing the grazing function of microzooplankton difficult in ocean ecosystem models.
Mesozooplankton Mesozooplankton are one of the larger size classes of zooplankton. In most regions, mesozooplankton are dominated by copepods, such as Calanus finmarchicus and Calanus helgolandicus. Mesozooplankton are an important prey for fish.
As plankton are rarely fished, it has been argued that mesoplankton abundance and species composition can be used to study marine ecosystems' response to climate change. This is because they have life cycles that generally last less than a year, meaning they respond to climate changes between years. Sparse, monthly sampling will still indicate vacillations.
Sampling methods
Research vessels collect zooplankton from the ocean using fine mesh nets. The vessels either tow the nets through the sea or pump sea water onboard and then pass it through the net.Ichthyoplankton sampling methods Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
There are many types of plankton tows: Neuston net tows are often made at or just below the surface using a nylon mesh net fitted to a rectangular frame The PairoVET tow, used for collecting fish eggs, drops a net about 70 metres into the sea from a stationary research vessel and then drags it back to the vessel. Ring net tows involve a nylon mesh net fitted to a circular frame. These have largely been replaced by bongo nets, which provide duplicate samples with their dual-net design. The bongo tow drags nets shaped like bongo drums from a moving vessel. The net is often lowered to about 200 metres and then allowed to rise to the surface as it is towed. In this way, a sample can be collected across the whole photic zone where most ichthyoplankton is found. MOCNESS and BIONESS tows and Tucker trawls utilize multiple nets that are mechanically opened and closed at discrete depths in order to provide insights into the vertical distribution of the plankton The manta trawl tows a net from a moving vessel along the surface of the water, collecting larvae, such as grunion, mahi-mahi, and flying fish which live at the surface.
After the tow the plankton is flushed with a hose to the cod end (bottom) of the net for collection. The sample is then placed in preservative fluid prior to being sorted and identified in a laboratory.