PLANKTON

DEFINITION OF PLANKTON
Plankton are any floating or drifting organisms having size
range relatively small and microscopic or sometimes large
(jellyfish), including both plants and animals which live
suspended in the water column of seas, lakes, ponds and
rivers and which are incapable of swimming, transporting
against different physical factors such as currents, waves,
wind occurring in water bodies.

Examples: Diatoms, Dinoflagellates, copepods,

ctenophores, lervaceans, crab megalopa, Barnacles
nauplies, polychaete worms, chaetognaths, pteropods,
coccolithophores, jellyfish larvae(obelia sp.)
Diatoms Dinoflagellates
copepod Barnacle nauplius
Polychaete worm chatognath
Crab larval stage (megalopa) ctenophore
 CLASSIFICATION OF PLANKTON
It is possible to classify members of the plankton in
multiple ways.
 On the basis of nutritional requirements
1. Phytoplankton : microscopic plant like organisms
which can do photosynthesis . Ex : Diatoms,
Dinoflagellates , cyanobacteria, coccolithphores.
2. Zooplankton: are microscopic animal plankton which are
heterotrophic(both detrivores and herbivores).Ex: copepods, fish
larvae, ctenophores, crustaceans.

eel larve jellyfish larvae krill.

3. Sapro plankton : Plankton found on the surface of stagnant water.
Plankton organisms inhabiting water rich in decaying organic
matter or in foul waters. Usually they are non-photosynthetic
microorganisms.
Ex: Bacteria, Fungi.
 On the basis of size
Size is another way to categorize plankton. Plankton
size is measured in microns. 1,000 microns equals 1
millimeter (mm) or 0.03937 inches.
• Pico-plankton <o.2-2μm
• Ultra-plankton <2μm
Ex : cyanobacteria, bacteria.
• Nano-plankton <5μm
Ex : Thalassomonas, Gymnodinium, Cryptochrysis,
Coccolithus, Pontosphaera, Tetraselmis (flagellates).
chaetoceros (diatoms).
• Micro-plankton <60-500μm
Ex : Ceratium, dinophysis, porocentrum, gyrodinium
(dinoflagellates).
Biddulphia, Nitzschia, Coscinodiscus (diatoms).
• Meso-plankton <0.5-1mm
Ex : Plectacantha (Radiolaria), Pulvinulina
(Foraminifera), Sagitta (Chaetognatha),
Limacina, Clione (molluca), oikopleura
(chordata), Tomopteris (polychaete), obelia,
aurelia (coelenterata).
• Macro-plankton <1mm-10mm
Ex : Macrocyclops albidus (copepod), Atlanta,
Gleba cordata, Diacria, creiseis (pteropods),
oxygiris (heteropod).
• Mega-plankton 1omm or >1omm
Ex : Porpita, Bolinopsis vitrea (ctenophore),
Aequorea victoria (jellyfish).
 mega-plankton
Aquorea victoria (jellyfish) Bolinopsis vitrea (ctenophore)
 Macro-plankton
Macrocyclops albidus Oxygiris sp.
 Meso-plankton
Oikopleura Tomopteris
 Micro-plankton
Biddulphia(diatom) Dinophysis(dinoflagellate)
 On the basis of the length of planktonic life
1. Holoplankton : the plankton which passes their whole life at
planktonic stage is called holoplankton. Ex: copepods, Relia.
2. Meroplankton : are plankton for only part of their lives (
usually the larval stages). Ex: the egg or larval stage, planktonic
spores, larvae of sea stars and urchins.

echinoderm larvae (ophiopluteus) sea urchin larvae

 Classification by salinity
1. Infra-haline : 0.5ppt
2. Oligo-haline : 0.5 – 3.0ppt
3. Meso–haline : 3.0 – 30ppt
 On the basis of the habitat
1. Marine plankton (Haliplankton)
2. Freshwater plankton (Limnoplankton)
 IMPORTANCE OF PLANKTON
PHYTOPLANKTON ZOOPLANKTON
• Foundation or primary link of • Sources of food for larger
the marine food web. animals like whales.
• photosynthesis removes • Zooplankton are the
CO2 from seawater helps to intermediate link that
regulate the temperature
transfers energy captured by
(global carbon cycle)
phytoplankton to these
• some phytoplankton produce
animals .
chemicals that are harmful to
humans and marine life.
• source of almost 50% of our
oxygen .
• Create red tide.
 What is productivity???
 The amount and rate of production which is defined as the
total amount of organic matter synthesized from inorganic
substances by organisms within a unit time in a given volume
of water occurring in a given ecosystem over a given time
period.
 Productivity is the rate of production of living material per
unit time per unit area or volume.
 Productivity can be expressed in terms of energy produced
per area per time (gm m−2 d−1)/ in terms of energy produced
per volume of water per time (gm m-3 d-1 ).
 what is primary productivity?
• The primary productivity of an ecosystem is defined as the rate
at which organic materials (carbon-containing compounds) are
stored.
• primary productivity principally occurs through the process of
photosynthesis which is defined as the amount of carbon fixed
by autotropic organisms through the synthesis of organic
compounds(carbon-based) from inorganic matters using
sunlight as the energy source.
The reaction:
CO2 + H2O + light CH2O + O2
 It also occurs through chemosynthesis, which uses the oxidation
or reduction of inorganic chemical compounds as its source of
energy.
The reaction:
CO2 + O2 + 4 H2S CH2O + 4 S + 3 H2O
Two types:
1. Gross primary production(GPP): is the total amount of
CO2 that is fixed by photosynthesis per unit time is
defined as the gross primary production.
GPP = NPP+ RES
2. Net primary productivity(NPP): It is the amount of carbon
uptake after subtracting Plant Respiration (RES) from
Gross Primary Productivity (GPP).
NPP = GPP- RES

 What is secondary productivity??

• The rate at which consumers and decomposers convert
the chemical energy of their food into their own biomass
is called secondary productivity.
How to measure the primary productivity ?????
The rate of carbon dioxide utilization, the rate of
formation of organic compounds, or the rate of
oxygen production can be used as a basis for
measuring primary productivity.
For the measurement of primary productivity
mainly two methods are used :
o O2 method(light and dark bottle method)
o C14 method (CO2 assimilation method)
 O2 method(oxygen technique)
Principle - relies upon fact that oxygen is released during
photosynthesis
CO2 + 2H2O ---> (CH2O)n + H2O + O2
The process :
the DO concentrations of samples any water body can be
measured and compared before and after incubation in light
and darkness. The difference between the measurements of
DO in the initial and dark bottles is an indication of the
amount of oxygen that is being consumed by respiration by
the organisms in the bottle. In the bottles exposed to light,
the biological processes of photosynthesis and respiration are
occurring; therefore, the change over time in DO
concentration from the initial concentration is a measure of
net productivity. The difference over time between the DO
concentration in the light bottle and the dark bottle is the
total oxygen production and therefore an estimate of gross
productivity.
Calculation
Respiration(R)= IB –DB
Net production(NP)=
LB–IB
Gross
production(GP)=NP +R

=LB – IB +IB-
DB

=LB –DB
 What is migration???
Migration can be defined as the periodic movement of an
organism from one place to another in a particular season or
time for various purpose such as feeding, breeding, avoidance
of adverse condition and also for survival aspect, due to some
temporary environmental changes but shall come back to their
natural habitat at the end of purpose is served.
Why do they migrate??
• Mainly to avoid predator
• To feed
• To mate
 DIURNAL VERTICAL MIGRATION/ DIEL VERTICAL MIGRATION
?????
Diurnal vertical migration is an observed behavioral
phenomenon used by some organisms which occurs vertically
day-night.
 Occurs in all major groups of zooplankton
 Rotifer, Copepods, Crustacea (Daphnia pulex) and planktonic
larvae are the most related species of this migration.
Hypothesis for vertical migration:
Vertical migration is an important
phenomenon within many taxa of both
marine and freshwater zooplankton. The
relative complexity and diversity of vertical
migration makes it difficult to find a unifying
theory to explain the different migration
patterns exhibited by zooplankton species.
 Predator-evation hypothesis:
This hypothesis explains the migration as an
antipredator defense in which zooplankton
typically descend to dimly lit areas during the
daylight to avoid visual predators.
.
 Changes in light intensity hypothesis:
It has been hypothesized that relative changes in light
intensity trigger a migratory response in zooplankton
(Nesbitt et al. 1996, Ringelberg and Flik 1994, Dodson et al.
1997).
 Light protection hypothesis:
Zooplankton may also migrate vertically within water
columns to avoid the harmful UV light that penetrates the
surface waters in daylight hours (Manuel and O’Dor 1997).
 Food -availability hypothesis:
Dagg et al. (1997) suggest that the migratory behavior of
zooplankton may also be attributed to the availability of
food within the strata of oceans and lakes. In this study,
Dagg et al. (1997) concluded that the female Calanus
pacificus zooplankton did not migrate up to the surface
layer of Dabob Bay at night because there was enough
phytoplankton in lower strata to support high feeding rates.
 Factors affecting the migration
 Light intensity : sensible to light ,choose to come to the
surface during sunset.
 Temperature and salinity: don’t influence directly ,but take in
concern for some species (Sagitta) .
 Changes in PH and O2 concentration: attribute to
photosynthesis by phytoplankton so any change in there
might effect indirectly on the migration of zooplankton.
 Physiological rhythm: It is been said that the zooplankton
might have innate periodic physiological rhythm (internal
clock) why they migrate in such manner which is well
observed.
 What does seasonal succession
mean????????????
Seasonal succession :
The changes in dominant species from season to season are called
seasonal succession. It is a very wide spread phenomenon among
the phytoplankton.
Causes of seasonal succession:
 Changes in temperature
 Changes in light intensity
 Changes in nutrient concentration
 Occurrence of herbivores animal

(Temperature directly affects phytoplankton growth rate and is

strongly correlated to many environmental conditions likely to
affect phytoplankton communities )
 Seasonal succession of phytoplankton in
different season
o Winter
• high nutrients very poor species
are found(Diatom)
• Less light intensity

o Spring
• Temperature rise
rapid growth of
phytoplankton and
zooplankton
• Unused nutrients
o Summer
• Warm surface water low growth of
phytoplankton
• Thermocline
o Autumn
• Water becomes cool
growth occurs but
further decrease in late
autumn

• Light intensity decreases

• Break of thermocline
Seasonal succession of phytoplankton in different
region
 PLANKTON COLLECTING GEARS
Plankton collecting gears mean the gears by which
plankton is used to catch from any water body.
Net is the most common gear for collecting plankton.
Plankton net:
• A plankton net is a device or apparatus that can be used
to catch or collecting plankton (microscopic plants and
animals that live in the ocean).
 About net
Shape: basic plankton net is a
cone shape.
Different parts of plankton net:
• Bucket – sample collector
• Net – main parts which is made
bye silk but modern net are
almost made by nylon.
• Ring – round and strong , made
by brass, waters run through
this portion.
• Bridle –three thin ropes
attached to the ring. Made by
wire or cod.
• Warp –attach with the picks of
bridles , made by wire or rope.
 TYPES OF NET
Simple plankton net (RING High speed plankton
TRAVEL NET) net(CLARKE-BUMPUS NET)
 Difference between photosynthesis
and chemosynthesis
photosynthesis chemosynthesis
• The process in which plants use • The process in which bacteria
light energy to combine carbon derives energy from the oxidation
dioxide with water. of inorganic compounds, such as
hydrogen sulfide.
• 6CO2+ 6H2O-> C6H12O6 + 6O2.
• 6CO2 + 6H2O + 3H2S->C6H12O6 +
• Occurs only in green plants or 3S
chlorophyllated organisms. • Occurs only in chemosynthetic
• it releases oxygen as a byproduct. bacteria.
• Atmospheric temperature, • In chemosynthesis, sulfur
amount and intensity of sunlight compounds are generated as
falling on the leaves, and CO2 byproducts.
concentration influence the rate • The amount of hydrogen sulfide
of photosynthesis. seeping in from the hydrothermal
vent determines the rate of
chemosynthesis.
 What is Plankton bloom????
Plankton bloom is a common phenomenon in the ocean, the excess growth
of a group of plankton (mainly phytoplankton or microscopic plants) or one
species of plankton caused by the excess of nutrients like N2, P and other
environmental factors(water temperature, salinity) in an ecosystem.
 A special group of plankton are coccolithophores.
 The major number of phytoplankton that take part in bloom:
Goryalux, Protogonxalux, Gymnodium, Dinophris, Oscillatoria.

oscillatoria(cyanobacteria) Gymnodium(dinoflagellate)
 Pictures of plankton bloom

Coccolithophores in Bering sea Red algal bloom

What are the reasons of plankton
bloom??????!!
 Nutrients
 Wind it stored up the bottom deposits,
liberating accumulated nutrients into the water .
 Upwelling
 Seismic disturbances
 Rains and flood
 Break down of food chain
 Problems those are created by plankton
bloom????????
 Extensive animal mortality
 Creates unpleasant odors in any aquatic water body.
 Causes O2 depletion
 Nutrients depletion too.
 Releases different toxic substances
 H2S increases
 Works as a reason to break down food chain in an
ecosystem.