Plankton
* absorbs huge amounts of carbon dioxide and supports almost all other forms of life.
* also play a role in regulating the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere
  - tend to depurate low concentrations of hydrocarbons within days
* are a key part of the entire marine food web
  - algae which are microscopic , free-floating algae
  - an important source of food for larger animals
* are any organisms that float in the water as opposed to swimming in the water
  - water-column organisms that are incapable of swimming against a current
* are at the base of a complex aquatic food web
  - mercy of the currents and movement of the water
  - clearly higher in the water column at night and are near the bottom during the daytime
  - divided into producers and consumers
  - float- ing species whose movements are most dependent upon water currents
  - free-floating, mostly microscopic plants, animals and bacteria
* are important because they are at the bottom of the aquatic food chain
  - in the ocean 's food chain
  - known as floaters, as they are very poor swimmers if they can even swim at all
  - lowest rungs on the oceanic food chain
  - marine organisms that drift with the ocean currents
* are microscopic marine organisms and are the building blocks of the marine food chain
  - plant and animal organisms floating in water in large numbers
* are microscopic plants and animals which float in the ocean
  - whose movements are largely dependent upon currents
  - microscopically tiny organisms that thrive in the oceans throughout the world
  - often microscopic and are an important food source for other aquatic community
  - organisms which drift freely in the oceans, carried by ocean currents
  - plants and animals that live near or on the surface of the ocean
  - relatively small organisms that drift or float passively in the water
  - sessile
  - small organisms that play a crucial role in the food chain
* are the first vital step in aquatic food chains
  - foundation of the aquatic food web
* are the microscopic animals and plants that sit at the base of the ocean food chain
  - organisms that many sea creatures eat
  - organisms that form the base of most open-ocean food webs
  - plants and animals that drift on the ocean s currents and in lakes and rivers
  - small organisms that float or drift in water, especially at or near the surface
  - smallest plants and animals living in the ocean
  - tiny creatures that form the bottom-most level of all ocean food chains
* are tiny aquatic organisms that swim around in the photic zone
  - open-water plants, animals or bacteria
  - plants that suspend or float in the water
* are unable to move significant distances against horizontally-flowing currents
  - swim effectively and drift about at the mercy of the currents
* are very sensitive to changes in the quality of the water
  - small, microscopic plants and animals
  - vital in the food supplies of fish, aquatic birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals
  - widely dispersed organisms at the bottom of the food chain
* attracts baitfish and baitfish draw walleyes.
* can be producers, consumers or both
  - recyclers, depending on which trophic level they belong to
  - live in any ocean water
* collective term for several different kinds of creatures.
* come in many different shapes and sizes.
* consists of two categories of organisms, phytoplankton and zooplankton.
* feeds small fishes, which in turn feed bigger fishes, sea birds, seals and whales.
* find a rich feeding ground in the cold waters lying off the Namibian Desert coast.
* float freely and can yield information on fish stocks and ocean currents.
* flows into the pools on each wave, feeding barnacles, mussels and worms.
* food source for small fish.
* form the base of the food chain for all marine animals
  - web and their survival is essential for all higher forms of life
  - basis of aquatic food webs, including the ocean
* has two known ancestors.
* have limited control on their individual movement.
* includes aquatic protistans and animal larve that drift or swim weakly in the water
  - plants and animals that float along at the mercy of the sea's tides and currents
* influence the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and the sea.
* is also a good source of food for small fish
  - an organism that is unable to move against the waters current
  - clumps of small plant and animal life that drifts on the surface of the ocean
* is composed of microscopic plants and animals, which drift in the ocean currents
  - myriad different species including microscopic plants and animals
  - consumed by many larger organisms, forming the base of many marine food chains
  - found in every ocean on the planet, and plays a major role in our existence
* is made up of both unicellular and pluricellular organisms
  - microscopic plants and animals that drift about on ocean currents
  - obviously the favorite diet of barnacles
  - part animal and part plant
  - probably particularly important for brooding males
  - small and jelly bean shaped
  - the basic essential building block for all life in the ocean
* is the basis for the entire marine food web - and it is under threat
  - of all aquatic food-chains
* is the bottom of the food chain in the ocean
  - first and most important layer of the oceanic food chain
  - food for corals
  - mass of small organisms carried about by water currents
  - principal food of golden trout in high lakes
  - smallest of all the main characters and the smallest person in Bikini Bottom
* is tiny plants and animals that can only be seen with a microscope
  - float near the surface
  - to be found on the ponds and can cause skin irritation to some people
  - used as food by fish
  - very important as it occupies the first two or three links in the marine food chains
* kind of organism that sustains many species, because it is consumed.
* live in both freshwater and marine environments
  - the microlayer because that's where there's most sunlight for photosynthesis
* major source of nutrients in coral reef ecosystems.
* make up most of their diet but they are quite opportunistic
  - one of three major groups of marine life
* occurs in absolutely countless numbers and volume
  - mainly near the surface of seas where the plants get suitable illumination
* predominantly comprises short-lived organisms.
* provide food for juvenile salmon when they leave the streams and hatchery pens
  - more oxygen than most of the earth's rain forests
* provides food for much sea life.
* refers to the whole assortment of tiny, often microscopic, living things in the ocean.
* represent the base of the food chain.
* sampling is fundamental to marine biology.
* term used to categorize any small creature in the river.
* vary in size from ultraminute bacteria to large jellyfish.
  * are important in the ocean's food chain. They are the main source of food for almost all fish larvae as they switch from their yolk sacs to catching prey.
* very popular prey item.