MEROPLANKTONPart I

Plankton• Holoplankton

Portuguese Man-O-War

Plankton• Meroplankton

Holoplankton orMeroplankton?

Do note that it is not always easy to place an organism in one exclusive group. There may be some exceptions.

Do note that it is not always easy to place an organism in one exclusive group. There may be some exceptions.

Bacteria Comb jelly squid White spotted Sea cucumber

Dinoflagellate Giant clamoctopus

Gannet

Copepods

lobe coralTriggerfish

Whale shark

Krill

Manta ray

Spinner dolphin

collector urchin

Seahorse

Upside down Jellyfishlongnose hawkfish

Seven eleven crab

tunicate Mola mola (ocean sunfish) Peacock flounder

Manta ray

Spanish Dancer Nudibranch

spotted boxfish

Garden eel

Divided flatworm

Orange Spine Unicornfish

needlefishSnowflake moray

Commerson’s frogfish

Sting ray

Organisms

Bacteria holoplankton Tiny organisms can’t fight the current. Many do live inside other animals. For instance, many chemosynthetic bacteria from the hydrothermal vents live inside tube worms.

Dinoflagellate holoplankton These have flagella for moving in the water, but they are very small and can’t fight the current. Some dinoflagellates, like zooxanthellae, live inside the tissue of coral, anemones, jellyfish, and giant clams.

Copepod holoplankton Tiny organisms can’t fight the current, but they are able to move during their daily vertical migration in the water column.

Krill Holoplankton/Meroplankton (pelagic)

The small ones are holoplankton, but some get large enough that they become good planktonic swimmers.

Upside-down Jellyfish

Meroplankton Jellyfish have 2 stages in their lifecycle: medusa and polyp. During the polyp stage they are attached to the bottom; however, during the medusa stage they are free swimming, but can’t fight a current. Also this particular species lives on the bottom but can swim vertically.

Answer Explanation

Seahorse Holoplankton (benthic)

If its tail wasn’t wrapped around seagrass, it would probably be swept away by a current. It does live at or near the bottom.

Snowflake moray

Meroplankton (benthic)

Lives in crevices and is a good swimmer as an adult.

Commerson’s frogfish

Meroplankton (benthic)

Not a strong swimmer, but meroplankton is a good guess.

 

Comb jelly Holoplankton These animals have eight rows of cilia that don’t really do much for helping them swim.

Giant clam Meroplankton (benthic)

After hatching from an egg, their larval stage settles to the bottom and they become bottom dwellers.

Lobe coral Meroplankton (benthic)

Corals produce a drifting planula larva that will settle to the bottom forming a polyp. Many will form a calcium carbonate skeleton.

Tunicate Holoplankton/Meroplankton (benthic)

All tunicates have a tadpole larval stage. Most will settle to the bottom and be benthic dwellers; however, there are pelagic tunicates that remain as plankton

Collector urchin

Meroplankton (benthic)

Larvae settles to the bottom and that’s where the urchin remains grazing on algae.

Seven eleven crab

Meroplankton (benthic)

Larvae settles to the bottom; there are some pelagic crabs that are good swimmers

Sting ray Nekton (benthic) Lives near the bottom and is ovoviparous, gives birth to 5-13 live offspring.

Spotted boxfish

Meroplankton (demersal)

It does swim in the water column. Don’t eat it.

squid Meroplankton (pelagic)

These are strong swimmers as adults

octopus Meroplankton (benthic and pelagic)

Most are benthic, but there are a few pelagic varieties

Triggerfish Meroplankton (demersal)

It does swim in the water column.

Mola mola (ocean sunfish)

Holoplankton/Meroplankton(pelagic)

Tough call! Some scientists call it plankton because they are poor swimmers; others agree that they can swim some. They follow the currents for their plantivorous diet

Manta ray Nekton(pelagic)

Swims in currents searching for plankton. Ovoviviparous, gives birth to 1-2 pups

Spinner dolphin

Nekton Viviparous, gives birth live to 1 offspring

Needlefish Meroplankton (demersal)

Best guess is demersal, but likes to hang out at the surface.

Divided flatworm

Meroplankton(benthic)

It eats tunicates and mollusks around reefs.

Sea cucumber

Meroplankton(benthic)

It sucks sand like a vacuum cleaning the detritus; it’s a deposit feeder.

Gannet (bird)

Nekton Strong swimmer searching for fish.

Whale shark

Nekton For the largest fish in the sea, it is ovoviviparous, and up to 300 young have been counted in one female

MEROPLANKTONPart II

 

  

Guess whom the following grew up to be:

C. D. B. A.

C. cat D. human B. fish A. dolphin

Phylum Chordata

Match the following

animals to their larval form.

1. 2. 3.

 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11.

12.

Larvae

13. 14. 15.

16.

18. 19. 20.

    21. 22.

Larvae

SpongeGiant clam

octopus

lobe coralTriggerfish

Adult

leaf scorpionfish

marine fire worm pom pom crabsquid

blue tangcowfish

Seahorse

Adult

tunicate Mola mola (ocean sunfish)

Snowflake moray Seven eleven crab

Divided flatwormSpanish dancer (nudibranch)

   

Peacock floundercrown of thorns starfish

slipper lobsterbrittle star

1. Porifera (parenchymella larvae)

sponge

2. Cnideria (planula larvae)

lobe coral

3. Flatworm(Müllers larvae)

divided flat worm

4. Mollusca and Polychaeta(trochophore larvae-after hatching)

giant clam

5. Mollusca (veliger larvae-later stage)

Spanish dancer (nudibranch)

Answers

6. Mollusca- Squid

squid

7. Mollusca- octopus

octopus

8. polychaete marine fire worm

9. crab (zoea; early crab stage)

seven eleven crab

10. Crab (megalopa; final planktonic stage)

pom pom crab

Answers

11. lobster (phyllosoma)

slipper lobster

12.Starfish(bipinnaria larvae)

crown of thorns starfish

13. Brittle star(Ophiopluteus larva)

brittle star

14. tunicate tunicate

15. seahorse seahorse

Answers

16. triggerfish triggerfish

17. Eel (leptocephalus)

snowflake moray

18. cowfish cowfish

19. Leaf scorpion fish

leaf scorpionfish

20. Blue tang blue tang

Answers

21. flounder peacock flounder

22. Ocean sunfish

ocean sunfish

Answers