Talk:Plankton

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The sizes given here were using two different systems, I think, since all the ranges they listed were based on multiples of ten except one, and that created a notable gap. They also reported the size of a water molecule to be 20 μm, which is a little on the large side. I've standardized on a system that seems to be popular on-line. However, that isn't necessarily the one biologists use, so it should be checked.

Contents 1 What do plankton eat? 2 Images 3 Cultural references 4 Megaplankton

[edit] What do plankton eat?

The tiniest plankton must eat still smaller planton! Is there a point at which the organisms just self-reproduce? Adambisset 17:05, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Well, you would be talking about a virus at that point. But there is no hard and fast rule that bigger fish eat smaller fish, etc. All living organisms require some source of energy to carry out life functions like reproduction, so "self-reproduction" and what something eats are unrelated issues. Presumably very small organisms could feed on stray organic molecules, be photosynthetic (maybe what you meant was "self-produce"?), or feed on dead bodies of larger plankters. - Marshman 17:27, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Thanks very much! It always pays to ask questions :) Adambisset 15:08, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Can't let this one sit. Plankton do not simply eat smaller and smaller plankton down to organic molecules. Many plankton are actually plants and synthesise their own "food" from light (and CO₂, water and simple nutrient molecules). The article specifically mentions them. They can be considered to "self-reproduce" in the sense the question suggests. As regards viruses, they don't self-reproduce from scratch. They parasitise living cells, using the machinery they contain to make copies of themselves. If there weren't any other organisms to service them, viruses would die out. Anyway, I know this answer is, like, 9 months late, but I thought I should add something. --Plumbago 15:05, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

If you read my answer you would see that autotrophs and heterotrophs are described. - Marshman

Sorry Marshman, my reply does sound rude (and like I hadn't read your reply). I'm afraid I've picked up the bad habit of shooting from the hip in Wikipedia. My concern was with your use of "presumably" - I didn't think it was robust enough (i.e. no "presumably" about it - we know what drives the ocean's food web). Also, I thought that the questioner might have got the wrong end of the stick re: viruses, and might be assuming they reproduced willy-nilly in the open water column. Anyway, apologies again for shooting first and making amends later. --Plumbago 07:40, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

I have no problem with others amplifying or correcting my answers. I do not know everything. But you would be more appreciated if you in fact amplified or corrected. I've found that trying to communicate via typing can not follow what we use in conversational style; generally you have to be more to the point and much less personal to avoid unintended "rudeness". It is difficult, so I always try to cut others some slack. Does that all make sense? - Marshman 18:14, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Images

Hi JesseW. I'm responsible for the recent reorganisation of the images to the right hand side of the article. Although I wasn't particularly happy with my own work, I think the new arrangement is a bit messy. I think part of the problem is that the article itself is too short to support the number of images we have (though I may try to extend it - I should really, plankton are my bread and butter). Anyway, I hope you won't be offended if I re-edit.

On another note, the pictures aren't terribly representative of plankton in the first place - I think they're all zooplankton. Ideally we'd have some phytoplankton and bacterioplankton (not that the latter make for good pictures!). Does anyone have anything to hand? Alternatively, we could scour existing pages for some images. I've worked extensively on the diatom page and it's got a nice image heading it up. Cheers, --Plumbago 07:57, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

I think the layoput looks pretty good right now. You could substitute some phytoplankters for zooplankters, although I'd try and move the zooplankters somewhere else first, like amphipods or Wikimedia so they do not get "lost" - Marshman 18:14, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Cultural references

I suggest moving the Cultural references section in order to separate biological information from everything else. We've been doing this for other biology articles, it helps readers focus on what's interesting for them. If there are no objections in the next 4 days I'll do it. Lejean2000 13:53, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Fair enough. It's "cultural" in a rather loose sense! (I say that as someone who added a paragraph.) Where will it be moved to? Lower down the same article, or a separate article? Perhaps "Plankton (cultural)" or similar? Cheers, --Plumbago 15:31, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I suggest creating a separate article. For Frogs we did Frogs in popular culture, so perhaps Plankton in Popular Culture? Since you added the paragraph, it's fair that you decide. Lejean2000 15:43, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Megaplankton

When I went on a whale watch from Boston, we saw a giant disc-shaped creature that had what looked like a fin. They told us it was a megaplankton. It must have been at least a meter wide. Does anyone know what that's called, and if there's a Wikipedia article for them? If I ever get out there again, I'm going to bring an image-stabilizing camera and get me a picture of one of those things for this page. -Harmil 16:23, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I'd be interested to know what kind of creature they thought it was. I tend to think of things like the Portuguese Man o' War as being the largest plankters. "Megaplankton" is more a description of lifestyle than kind of organism. Cheers, --Plumbago 16:49, 17 May 2006 (UTC)