I was so deluded about plankton!

[astro]

I was reading the SDMB SpongeBob thread then linked to a thread about a sponges life cycle, then read that sponges ate plankton and thought to myself - “Self, what is a plankton?”

Sure I know it’s important in the food chain at some point but what is plankton really? I thought they were little primitive sea animals of a specific type or genus. Now by Googling (thanks internet) I find out “plankton” is a really a term categorizing a huge variety of diverse related and unrelated organisms by the fact that they float at the mercy of the waves and cannot direct their locomotion. It’s a kind of “soup” of living creatures. They’re not a genus at all!

Who knew! I’m sure you did, but I didn’t! It’s new information!

What is plankton?

What is plankton?

The word plankton originates from the Greek word for “wandering.” It refers to the astonishingly diverse group of plants and animals that spend some or all of their life cycle drifting in the water of oceans or freshwater lakes. Although many of these organisms are capable of locomotion, they are generally unable to move independently of currents and waves. This lack of strong swimming ability separates plankton from nekton, which includes organisms that can control their movement in the water (such as fish). Some planktonic organisms can be quite large (up to a meter or more), however, plankton are generally smaller than nekton, and most are best viewed with the aid of a microscope.

Categories of Plankton

Because “the plankton” is comprised of such a complex array of different organisms, it is possible to classify members of the plankton in multiple ways. Plants in the plankton are called phytoplankton, and animals are called zooplankton. Plankton may also be categorized according to how much of the life cycle is spent in the plankton.

[Tansu]

This is my favourite thread title of the week so far.

[MikeG]

It’s alright, that evil Plankton has deluded so many in his never ending struggle to capture the Krabby Patty.

He even conned ole SB himself. ( My kids favorite line in that ep:
“Don’t you know what’s behind Movie Screens boy? Solid Concrete! Yuk yuk yuk…”

[Kricket]

One of my favorites in when he shows everybody his LAB!!!

I rolled!
My daughters father looked at me like I had lost my mind but laughed as well.

Gotta’ go Bobs on!