Glossary

zooplankton

Plankton or planktonic constituent composed of small animals such as crustaceans and larval fishes.

Used in 319 species profiles

copepod
Any member of the subclass Copepoda, a group of small marine and freshwater crustaceans of which the planktonic species are important to global ecology, forming the main constituent of oceanic zooplankton. Some species are parasites of fishes.
crustacean
Any member of the predominantly aquatic arthropod grouping Crustacea which currently contains almost 70,000 recognised species, including all crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. It's difficult to define their characteristics since the group is of arguable hierarchical status, generally regarded to represent either a Phylum or Subphylum.
larval
Of, relating to, or being a larva.
plankton
Any organism, or more typically, collection of organisms drifting freely in a body of water. Used in reference to both microscopic, e.g. algae, fish larvae, and larger, e.g. jellyfish, organisms.
planktonic
Of or relating to plankton.