@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.socialWeekend #Plankton Factoid 🦠🦐
#ClimateChange is expected to modify food-webs in the oceans, including in nutrition. In an MIT modeling study scientists found that under heating scenarios, phytoplankon can shift from protein to carbohydrate and lipid dominated cell composition, which they hav…
@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.socialWeekend #Plankton Factoid 🦠🦐
Today's organism is the primarily freshwater dinoflagellate phytoplankon genus Ceratium, characterized by cellulose armored plates, two flagella, and horns, resembling Eiffel towers. These large, tough algae can form dense blooms which few zooplankton graze, and can cause oxygen depletion. These 7 species are mixotrophic, so graze on other algae or bacteria …
@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.social @DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.socialWeekend #Plankton Factoid 🦠🦐
Antarctic and North Pacific krill (Euphausia superba and pacifica) are a vital component of high latitude ecosystems as food for many species including whales. It is also a valued commercial fishery since they are 40% protein and 20% lipid. The quota of 620,000 tonnes was rapidly reached this past year for use as omega-3 oil, bait and animal feed. For perspectiv…
@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.socialWeekend #Plankton Factoid 🦠🦐
If you are a filter feeder how to you deal with a gummed up feeding mechanism? Cladoceran zooplankton have a post abdominal claw with a sharp pointed tip which acts as a combination toothpick and anchor to clear out the feeding groove of the carapace. Some groups also grasp algal filaments or plants with it. These claws are distinctive to species based on the si…
@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.socialWeekend #Plankton Factoid 🦠🦐
This is likely Earth's most common metazoan (animal). Meet Oithona similis, a small predatory, cyclopoid copepod. It is highly tolerant of temperature and salinity ranges, having a cosmopolitan distribution within every ocean, from poles to tropics, and is common in the epi to mesopelagic zones. Densities range from hundreds to several thousand per m³ of wat…
@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.socialWeekend #Plankton Factoid 🦠🦐
The equinox has returned, so let's talk spring phytoplankton blooms. Temperature and light has increased to create stratification (warm water layer floats over a denser one). Algae is kept near the surface, growing quickly without sinking into the depths. This is the Sverdrup (1953) Critical Depth Hypothesis.
Dr. David Shull at Western Washington Univ…
@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.socialWeekend #Plankton Factoid 🦠🦐
I spent the last week attending the joint ASLO - SIL conference (the two largest #limnology societies) in Montréal. There were many interesting talks, including a few on alpine lake systems. These are very cold, ice-covered for much of the year, with extreme adapted…
@DrPlanktonguy@ecoevo.social
