animal plankton

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• plankton — [plaŋk′tən] n. [Ger < Gr planktos, wandering < plazesthai, to wander, akin to planan: see PLANET] the usually microscopic animal and plant life found floating or drifting in the ocean or in bodies of fresh water, used as food by nearly all… …   English World dictionary

• plankton — Animal and plant life, largely microscopic, found floating and drifting in large numbers in the ocean and in bodies of fresh water [Bliss, 1982]. Organisms unable to maintain their position or distribution independent of the water movement or air …   Crustacea glossary

• plankton — planktonic /plangk ton ik/, adj. /plangk teuhn/, n. the aggregate of passively floating, drifting, or somewhat motile organisms occurring in a body of water, primarily comprising microscopic algae and protozoa. [1890 95; < G, special use of neut …   Universalium

• Plankton — For other uses, see Plankton (disambiguation). Photomontage of planktonic organisms Plankton (singular plankter) are any drifting organisms (plants …   Wikipedia

• animal — animalic /an euh mal ik/, animalian /an euh may lee euhn, mayl yeuhn/, adj. /an euh meuhl/, n. 1. any member of the kingdom Animalia, comprising multicellular organisms that have a well defined shape and usually limited growth, can move… …   Universalium

• Animal coloration — Chapman s Zebras in Botswana, displaying their outline disrupting camouflage Animal coloration has been a topic of interest and research in biology for well over a century. According to Charles Darwin s 1859 theory of natural selection,[1 …   Wikipedia

• plankton — /ˈplæŋktən / (say plangktuhn) noun the mass of small animal and plant organisms that float or drift in the water, especially at or near the surface: many fish survive by eating plankton; planktons are important to marine life. {German, from Greek …  

• plankton — noun Etymology: German, from Greek, neuter of planktos drifting, from plazesthai to wander, drift, middle voice of plazein to drive astray; akin to Latin plangere to strike more at plaint Date: 1891 the passively floating or weakly swimming… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

• plankton — A general term for many floating marine forms, mostly of microscopic or minute size, which are moved passively by winds, waves, tides, or currents; it includes diatoms, algae, copepods, and many protozoans, crustacea, mollusks, and worms. [G.… …   Medical dictionary

• plankton — Synonyms and related words: Iceland moss, Irish moss, Loch Ness monster, alevin, benthon, benthos, brown algae, cetacean, conferva, dolphin, dulse, fingerling, fish, fry, fucoid, fucus, game fish, green algae, grilse, gulfweed, kelp, kipper,… …   Moby Thesaurus

• plankton — plank|ton [ˈplæŋktən] n [U] [Date: 1800 1900; : German; Origin: Greek, from planktos wandering , from plazesthai to wander ] the very small forms of plant and animal life that live in water, especially the sea, and are eaten by fish …   Dictionary of contemporary English