Loop There It Is
This term describes carbon dissolved in seawater that can be recycled by microbes.
What is DOM (Dissolved Organic Matter)?
Phytoplankton produce approximately this much of the world's oxygen.
What is 50%?
This HAB is notorious for its harmful effects on ecosystems on the Gulf coast of Florida.
What is red tide?
These tiny crustaceans are sometimes called the "cows of the sea" because they graze on phytoplankton.
What are copepods?
True or False: All plankton are in the same phylum.
False!
These two groups of microorganisms both lack a nucleus.
What are bacteria and archaea?
These prokaryotes are sometimes called "blue-green algae".
What are cyanobacteria?
These are the three requirements for a natural phytoplankton bloom.
What are light, temperature, and nutrients?
Organisms that spend only a portion of their lives drifting as plankton belong to this category.
What are meroplankton?
This adaptation allows many planktonic crustaceans to avoid being spotted by predators.
What is a transparent exoskeleton?
These group of "animal-like" protists feed on other organisms and can transfer energy through the microbial loop.
What are protozoans?
These microorganisms have two flagella, and some species can both photosynthesize and consume prey.
What are dinoflagellates?
After an algal bloom dies, bacteria may consume so much oxygen during decomposition that this low-oxygen condition develops.
What is hypoxia / anoxia?
Unlike jellyfish, these gelatinous zooplankton use sticky cells called colloblasts to capture prey.
What are ctenophores / comb jellies?
Coral planula larvae rely on these environmental signals to identify suitable places to settle.
What are chemical cues?
This pathway allows coral reefs to remain productive even in nutrient-poor waters by recycling organic matter.
What is the microbial loop?
The coccolith plates of a coccolithophore are made of this material.
What is calcium carbonate?
When the ocean forms distinct layers based on temperature or density, this process can limit nutrient mixing.
What is stratification?
These single-celled protists have calcium carbonate shells called tests and contribute to reef sands.
What are foraminiferans?
Two coral reefs are separated by miles of open ocean, yet larvae from one reef can eventually settle on the other. This process helps maintain connections between the reefs.
What is dispersal?
When viruses destroy their host cells, this process releases organic matter into the water.
What is viral lysis?
This is the glass-like, silica shell of a diatom.
What is a frustule?
Excess nutrients from fertilizer runoff can cause excessive algal growth through this process.
What is eutrophication?
*HAB is the result of eutrophication, but not the process itself
These are the stiff, spiky projections that can be found on radiolarians.
What are axopodia?
These stinging cells found in jellyfish are used to immobilize prey.
What are nematocysts?