animal plankton

  • 1plankton — [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

  • 2plankton — 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

  • 3plankton — 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

  • 4Plankton — For other uses, see Plankton (disambiguation). Photomontage of planktonic organisms Plankton (singular plankter) are any drifting organisms (plants …

    Wikipedia

  • 5animal — 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&#8230; …

    Universalium

  • 6Animal 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

  • 7plankton — /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 …

  • 8plankton — 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&#8230; …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 9plankton — 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.&#8230; …

    Medical dictionary

  • 10plankton — 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,&#8230; …

    Moby Thesaurus