Plankton Vocabulary

1. A bloom of harmful, often toxic, phytoplankton that can lead to the discoloration of water
3. A type of phytoplankton with a silica-based cell wall, often shaped like a glass shell
6. Extremely small-sized plankton, smaller than microplankton
8. Pertaining to the bottom of a body of water; organisms living on or in the substrate
14. Larger-sized plankton, visible under a microscope
15. Organisms that obtain their energy by consuming other organisms
16. Small animals that feed on phytoplankton or other zooplankton
18. Small crustaceans that are a common type of zooplankton
20. Microscopic, photosynthetic organisms that form the base of the aquatic food chain

2. Unicellular algae that can be both phytoplankton and sometimes bioluminescent
4. The position an organism occupies in a food chain
5. A close and long-term interaction between different biological species
7. Free-swimming aquatic organisms, such as fish and squid, capable of active movement
9. The depth in the water column where the rate of photosynthesis equals the rate of
10. Zooplankton that remain in the planktonic phase throughout their entire life cycle
11. Organisms that produce their own food through processes like photosynthesis
12. Planktonic organisms that spend their entire life cycle in the planktonic phase
13. A rapid increase in the population of planktonic organisms
17. Planktonic organisms that spend only a part of their life cycle as plankton
19. Microscopic organisms that drift or float in aquatic environments