Classification of Marine Organisms

Question 1

Drifters?

Answer 1

Plankton

Question 2

Swimmers?

Answer 2

Nekton

Question 3

Bottom Dwellers?

Answer 3

Benthos

Question 4

Phytoplankton

Answer 4

Autotrophs - undergo photosynthesis

Question 5

Zooplankton

Answer 5

Heterotrophs - includes drifting marine animals

Question 6

Bacterioplankton

Answer 6

Free-living bacteria - more abundant and widely distributed than previously thought

Question 7

Virioplankton

Answer 7

Smaller than bacterioplankton - little known - composed of bacteriophages and algal viruses

Question 8

Holoplankton

Answer 8

Organisms that spend their entire lives as plankton

Question 9

Meroplankton

Answer 9

Many organisms that spend their adult lives as nekton or benthos but spend their juvenile/larval stages as plankton

Question 10

Epifauna

Answer 10

Live on the surface of the seafloor

Question 11

Infauna

Answer 11

Live buried in the sand, in discarded shells, or in the mud

Question 12

Nektonbenthos

Answer 12

Live on the bottom yet also have the ability to swim or crawl through the water above