plankton
Plankton cannot strongly swim against currents. This topic is part of Marine Life within Science & Nature. This page currently draws on 15 supporting questions, with answers and bonus facts available below.
plankton trivia questions
Plankton are organisms that mostly drift with what?
Answer: Water currents
Bonus fact: Plankton cannot strongly swim against currents.
What type of plankton performs photosynthesis?
Answer: Phytoplankton
Bonus fact: Phytoplankton are microscopic primary producers.
Why are phytoplankton globally important?
Answer: They produce a large share of Earth's oxygen
Bonus fact: Marine photosynthesis contributes greatly to global oxygen production.
What feathery appendages do barnacles extend into the water to capture food?
Answer: Cirri
Bonus fact: Barnacles sweep plankton and food particles from the water using feathery legs called cirri.
Natural chalk rock formed largely from the microscopic remains of what marine organisms?
Answer: Plankton
Bonus fact: Much chalk consists of tiny calcite plates from microscopic marine plankton called coccolithophores.
How do basking sharks feed?
Answer: Swim with mouths open and filter water
Bonus fact: Gill rakers trap plankton from passing water.
Feather stars use many feathery arms mainly to capture what?
Answer: Food particles
Bonus fact: They filter plankton and organic particles from water.
What structures near a manta ray's mouth help funnel food-rich water inward?
Answer: Cephalic lobes
Bonus fact: The paired cephalic lobes help direct plankton toward the mouth.
Marine biology is the study of life in what environment?
Answer: Oceans and seas
Bonus fact: Marine biologists study organisms from plankton to whales.
Which tiny drifting organisms are a major focus of marine food-web research?
Answer: Plankton
Bonus fact: Plankton form the base of many ocean food chains.
What makes estuaries especially rich in biological productivity?
Answer: They receive abundant nutrients
Bonus fact: Nutrient-rich waters support plankton, fish, birds, and shellfish.
What food makes up an unusually large share of a sockeye salmon’s diet at sea compared with many other salmon?
Answer: Zooplankton
Bonus fact: Their plankton-rich diet contributes to the species’ distinctive ecology and firm, deeply colored flesh.