Protista

Larger phytoplankton are single-celled algae also known as protists—tiny organisms that also contain chloroplasts. Many creatures called zooplankton are also tiny protists, but the category simultaneously includes animals on the other end of the size scale.

Scientists classify plankton in several ways, including by size, type, and how long they spend drifting. But the most basic categories divide plankton into two groups: phytoplankton (plants) and zooplankton (animals).

Taxonomically, phytoplankton are members of the Kingdoms Monera and Protista.

Difference Between Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Phytoplanktons are plants while zooplanktons are animals, this is the main difference between them. While phytoplanktons are a source of primary producers in the aquatic food chains, zooplanktons are consumers, it eats phytoplanktons.

Phytoplankton are the single-celled organisms that play an important role in the aquatic food web, and different types include green algae, cyanobacteria, coccolithophores and dinoflagellates.

There are two main types of plankton: phytoplankton, which are plants, and zooplankton, which are animals. Zooplankton and other small marine creatures eat phytoplankton and then become food for fish, crustaceans, and other larger species.

Two general groups of zooplankton exist: those that remain planktonic throughout their entire life (holoplankton), and those that are larval stages of larger life forms (meroplankton).

Phytoplankton live in oceans, seas or lakes. Phytoplankton live at the top of the water column, as far down as the sunlight can penetrate.

Importance of phytoplankton Phytoplankton are the foundation of the aquatic food web, the primary producers, feeding everything from microscopic, animal-like zooplankton to multi-ton whales. Small fish and invertebrates also graze on the plant-like organisms, and then those smaller animals are eaten by bigger ones.

It is called “Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) Nanoparticles Are Phototoxic to Marine Phytoplankton.” Miller and his colleagues conducted an experiment showing that even normal levels of ultraviolet light (UV) from sunshine are enough to cause titanium dioxide nanoparticles suspended in seawater to kill phytoplankton.

More generally, a bloom can be considered as a phytoplankton population explosion-blooms occur when sunlight and nutrients are readily available to the plants, and they grow and reproduce to a point where they are so dense that their presence changes the color of the water in which they live.

The two main classes of phytoplankton are dinoflagellates and diatoms. When too many nutrients are available, phytoplankton may grow out of control and form harmful algal blooms (HABs). These blooms can produce extremely toxic compounds that have harmful effects on fish, shellfish, mammals, birds, and even people.

What would happen if phytoplankton of an ocean is completely destroyed for some reason? The ocean as a carbon sink would be adversely affected. 2. The food chains in the ocean would be adversely affected.

The zooplankton community is an important element of the aquatic food chain. These organisms serve as an intermediary species in the food chain, transferring energy from planktonic algae (primary producers) to the larger invertebrate predators and fish who in turn feed on them.

Plankton has been considered as edible food for the human being in 2014 after more than 5 years of research and experiment, but actually at the moment it isn’t within everybody’s grasp. In fact it is sold wholesale at the price of 3000/4000 euro per kilo!

Small fish, shrimp, zooplankton eat by stinging anything that gets close to tentacles, and passes prey through lappets to the mouth. Small fish will eat zooplankton, the large fish will feed on the small fish, and the food chain will sustain life throughout the water.

In turn, zooplankton become food for fish and other animals, which then may become food for people. There must be enough phytoplankton in the water to form the base of the food web. When there is too much plankton due to excess nutrients in the water (known as eutrophication), harmful algal blooms can result.

6 of the Healthiest Fish to Eat

1. Albacore Tuna (troll- or pole-caught, from the US or British Columbia)
2. Salmon (wild-caught, Alaska)
3. Oysters (farmed)
4. Sardines, Pacific (wild-caught)
5. Rainbow Trout (farmed)
6. Freshwater Coho Salmon (farmed in tank systems, from the US)

Oily fish are fish species with oil in soft tissues and in the coelomic cavity around the gut. Oily fish can be contrasted with whitefish, which contain oil only in the liver and in much less overall quantity than oily fish. Examples of whitefish are cod, haddock and flatfish.

When the fishing is intense, the relative abundance of the larger fish positioned high in the food chain is reduced. Consequently, over time, small fishes start to dominate the fisheries catches, and the mean trophic level of the catches declines.

The anchovy, being an oily fish, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, well known for its ability to lower levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood.

Anchovies have many vitamins and minerals that provide major health benefits. They are best known as a source of omega-3 fatty acids, which promote brain and heart health. Anchovies also have selenium, which, if eaten regularly, may reduce the risk of some types of cancer.

Fish and mercury Other, smaller oily fish can also contain mercury so the advice for pregnant women is to eat no more than two 140g portions per week of mackerel, salmon, sardines, anchovies, trout or other oily fish.

Protista contains unicellular eukaryotes and phytoplankton and zooplankton comes under chrysophyta of protista…

Zooplankton—even the smallest ones made up of just one cell—are also eukaryotes, since they are animals, and all animals are eukaryotes.

Zooplankton are generally larger than phytoplankton, mostly still microscopic but some 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.

Plankton is composed of the phytoplankton (“the plants of the sea”) and zooplankton (zoh-plankton) which are typically the tiny animals found near the surface in aquatic environments. Like phytoplankton, zooplankton are usually weak swimmers and usually just drift along with the currents.

Sea lice is skin irritation due to the trapping of small jellyfish larvae underneath bathing suits in the ocean. Pressure on the larvae causes them to release inflammatory, stinging cells that cause itching, irritation, and red bumps on the skin.

Protect yourself when you dive by wearing a wetsuit. Don’t wear a t-shirt or one-piece bathing suit into the ocean, because it can trap the larvae inside. Bathing suits made from tightly woven fabrics are better at keeping out jellyfish larvae than loosely woven fabrics.

GREAT NEWS: Carnivorous “Sea Lice” Are a Thing Now, And They Will Eat You.

Although the creatures can’t survive out of the water, they can sting bodies within – leaving victims with an itchy rash. The name is not entirely accurate – the tiny creatures aren’t actually sea lice at all, which are a type of crustacean that often (and only) parasitise marine fish, and are not dangerous to humans.

These miniature jellyfish can become trapped under bathing suits or surf boards in the ocean, and stinging cells are activated causing pruritus, and sometimes systemic symptoms including fever, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Additionally, sea lice can affect both adults and children.

“Sea Lice” is a condition that has been documented along 250 miles of Florida’s southern Atlantic coast since the 1900s. Scientifically referred to as Sea Bather’s Eruption.

Head lice are tiny insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. An infestation of head lice most often affects children and usually results from the direct transfer of lice from the hair of one person to the hair of another.

There is a crustacean that marine biologists call sea lice, but it’s a parasite that affects fish, not people. And parasitic sea lice shouldn’t be confused with sand lice, also called sea fleas—another crustacean that lives in wet sand. The stingers in Florida are in one of the first stages of the jellyfish life cycle.

Dogs can fall victim to sea lice, or worse, jellyfish. If your dog should suffer a sting, douse the affected area in vinegar to ease the pain and kill off the stinging barbs before trying to remove the tentacles. Finally, remember to make sure your dog has the proper identification tags.