zooplankton

[ zoh-uh-plangk-tuhn ]

/ ˌzoʊ əˈplæŋk tən /

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noun

the aggregate of animal or animallike organisms in plankton, as protozoans.

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Compare phytoplankton.

Origin of zooplankton

First recorded in 1900–05; zoo- + plankton

Words nearby zooplankton

zoophilous, zoophobia, zoophorus, zoophyte, zooplankter, zooplankton, zooplasty, zoopraxiscope, zoosemiotics, zoosperm, zoosporangium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use zooplankton in a sentence

It’s so large, he notes, that whale sharks and the zooplankton that they also eat seem to occupy similar rungs on the marine food chain, both just one rung above the phytoplankton they both feast upon.
Whale sharks may be the world’s largest omnivores|Freda Kreier|August 1, 2022|Science News
Millions of salmon travelled up to 60 miles a day, fending off predators and feeding on zooplankton and small fish.
3 Reasons to Avoid Farmed Salmon|Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins|July 21, 2022|Time
Like other tiny zooplankton, copepods use light as a cue to plunge en masse to the dark deep, seeking safety from surface predators.
Night lights make even the seas bright|Carolyn Gramling|April 27, 2022|Science News For Students
They are food for the zooplankton, which are food for the krill, the fish and the whales.
Sylvia Earle Doesn't Just Want to Save the Oceans. She Wants to Make Them Accessible to All|Aryn Baker|November 6, 2021|Time

We could soon see the loss of zooplankton and small fish crucial to our seafood supply, a subject that Washington-based researcher Sonya Dyhrman has explored while showing how vulnerable our food chain is to climate change.
16 Surprising Ways Climate Change Affects You|Nick Fouriezos|April 23, 2021|Ozy

British Dictionary definitions for zooplankton

zooplankton

/ (ˌzəʊəˈplæŋktən) /

noun

the animal constituent of plankton, which consists mainly of small crustaceans and fish larvaeCompare phytoplankton

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for zooplankton

zooplankton

[ zō′ə-plăngk′tən ]

Plankton that consists of tiny animals, such as rotifers, copepods, and krill, and of microorganisms once classified as animals, such as dinoflagellates and other protozoans.