Zooplankton
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[[Image:Copepodkils.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A [[copepod]] (''[[Calanoida]]'' sp.)]]
[[Image:Jelly 4.JPG|thumb|right|200px|A [[jellyfish]] (''[[Chrysaora quinquecirrha]]'')]]
[[Image:Meganyctiphanes norvegica2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Krill]] (''[[Northern krill|Meganyctiphanes norvegica]]'')]]
'''Zooplankton''' are the [[heterotroph]]ic (sometimes [[Detritivore|detritivorous]]) type of [[plankton]]. Plankton are organisms drifting in the [[Pelagic zone|water column]] of [[ocean]]s, [[sea]]s, and bodies of [[fresh water]]. The name of zooplankton is derived from the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] ''zoon'' ({{Polytonic|ζῴον}}), meaning "[[animal]]", and ''{{lang|grc-Latn|planktos}}'' ({{lang|grc|πλαγκτος}}), meaning "wanderer" or "drifter".<ref>{{cite book
| last = Thurman
| first = H. V.
| year = 1997
| title = Introductory Oceanography
| publisher = Prentice Hall College
| location = New Jersey, USA
| isbn = 0132620723
}}</ref> Many zooplankton are too small to be seen individually with the [[naked eye]].
Zooplankton is a broad categorisation spanning a range of [[organism]] sizes that includes both small [[protozoa]]ns and large [[metazoa]]ns. It includes [[holoplankton]]ic organisms whose complete [[biological life cycle|life cycle]] lies within the plankton, and [[meroplankton]]ic organisms that spend part of their life cycle in the plankton before graduating to either the [[nekton]] or a [[sessile]], [[benthos|benthic]] existence.
[[Ecology|Ecologically]] important protozoan zooplankton groups include the [[foraminifera]]ns, [[radiolaria]]ns and [[dinoflagellate]]s (the latter are often [[mixotroph]]ic). Important metazoan zooplankton include [[cnidaria]]ns such as [[jellyfish]] and the [[Portuguese Man o' War]]; [[crustacea]]ns such as [[copepod]]s and [[krill]]; [[chaetognath]]s (arrow worms); [[Mollusca|molluscs]] such as [[pteropod]]s; and [[chordate]]s such as [[salp]]s and juvenile [[fish]]. This wide [[phylogeny|phylogenetic]] range includes a similarly wide range in [[feeding]] behaviour: [[filter feeder|filter feeding]], [[predation]] and [[symbiosis]] with [[autotrophic]] [[phytoplankton]] as seen in corals. Zooplankton feed on [[bacterioplankton]], phytoplankton, other zooplankton (sometimes [[Cannibalism (zoology)|cannibalistically]]), [[detritus]] (or [[marine snow]]) and even nektonic organisms.
Through their consumption and processing of phytoplankton (and other food sources), zooplankton play an important role in aquatic [[food web]]s, both as a resource for consumers on higher [[trophic level]]s and as a conduit for packaging the organic material in the [[biological pump]].
==See also==
* [[Bacterioplankton]]
* [[Biological pump]]
* [[Diel vertical migration]]
* [[Gelatinous zooplankton]]
* [[Iron fertilization]]
* [[Ocean acidification]]
* [[Phytoplankton]]
* [[Plankton]]
* [[Primary production]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://planktonnet.sb-roscoff.fr/index.php Plankton*Net @ Roscoff], images of planktonic species
* [http://www.tafi.org.au/zooplankton Guide to the marine zooplankton of south eastern Australia], [http://www.tafi.org.au/ Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute]
[[Category:Aquatic ecology]]
[[Category:Biological oceanography]]
[[Category:Marine biology]]
[[Category:Planktology]]
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