zooplankton

noun

zoo·​plank·​ton ˌzō-ə-ˈplaŋ(k)-tən 

-ˌtän

plural zooplankton also zooplanktons

: freely floating or weakly swimming typically minute aquatic protozoans and animals (such as copepods, rotifers, and arrow worms) or the eggs or larvae of aquatic animals (such as anemones, mollusks, and fish) : plankton composed of animals

… numerous varieties of adult gamefish depend on zooplankton for a substantial portion of their diets throughout their lives.

—Byron W. Dalrymple

Phytoplankton exhale life-giving oxygen and are consumed as food by zooplankton and small fish, which, in turn, are eaten by larger fish.

—Kenneth R. Weiss

Right whales eat zooplankton, which are tiny creatures that float along in the water column, by straining huge amounts of sea water through their baleen.

—Wendall Waters

compare phytoplankton

zooplanktonic

ˌzō-ə-ˌplaŋ(k)-ˈtä-nik 

adjective

zooplanktonic organisms

Examples of zooplankton in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

North Pacific right whales are baleen whales, which feed by straining huge volumes of ocean water through their comb-like baleen plates that trap copepods and other zooplankton. —Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024

Or little creatures known as zooplankton gobble up those phytoplankton and poop out pellets of carbon that also sink. —Matt Simon, WIRED, 18 Jan. 2024

And then the larger predators like fish that eat the zooplankton will be impacted, on up the food chain. —Matt Simon, WIRED, 8 Feb. 2024

According to the researchers, modern arrow worms are smaller predators that survive on meals of tiny zooplankton. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

zoo- + plankton

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

zooplankton

noun

zoo·​plank·​ton ˌzō-ə-ˈplaŋ(k)-tən 

-ˌtän

: plankton that is composed of animals