PHYTOPLANKTON

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does phytoplankton mean? 

• PHYTOPLANKTON (noun)
  The noun PHYTOPLANKTON has 1 sense:

1. photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton; mainly unicellular algae

  Familiarity information: PHYTOPLANKTON used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PHYTOPLANKTON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton; mainly unicellular algae

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("phytoplankton" is a kind of...):

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "phytoplankton"):

planktonic algae (unicellular algae)

diatom (microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica)

Holonyms ("phytoplankton" is a member of...):

plankton (the aggregate of small plant and animal organisms that float or drift in great numbers in fresh or salt water)

 Context examples 

Single celled phytoplankton that produce silica skeletons.

(Diatom, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

Red algae include phytoplankton and seaweeds, also known as macroalgae.

(Red seaweeds, including those in sushi, thrive despite ancestor's loss of genes, National Science Foundation)

Phytoplankton don't make use of urea.

(Giant kelp switches diet when key nutrient becomes scarce, National Science Foundation)

This upward current brought the nitrates nearer to the surface, where phytoplankton, which also need sunlight, tend to live.

(Scientists report skyrocketing phyotplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption, Wikinews)

The production of light by certain living organisms, including fireflies and phytoplankton, by the conversion of chemical to radiant energy.

(Bioluminescence, NCI Thesaurus)

In a new study, researchers identified a cluster of genes related to the production of domoic acid in microscopic plants, or phytoplankton, called Pseudo-nitzschia.

(Scientists discover genetic basis for how harmful algae blooms become toxic, National Science Foundation)

Once deposited there, their iron content could be enough to boost the productivity of marine phytoplankton, feeding new blooms of these microscopic algae and altering ocean ecosystems.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)

At the base of the ocean food web, phytoplankton are projected to decline due to higher surface temperatures near the equator.

(Pacific island fish migrating to cooler seas, SciDev.Net)

Such fatty acids are not actually produced in fish, but are accumulated from phytoplankton which produce omega-3 fatty acids.

(Fish Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

So far, the investigators have used the technique to look at cell-to-cell variations in growth rates of phytoplankton; observe viral infections inside phytoplankton cells; trace movements of nutrients from marine bacteria into microbial predators; and identify and quantify microplastic particles in marine plankton samples.

(Cell chemistry illuminated by laser light, National Science Foundation)