''Plankton'' is a plural or mass noun; the term for an individual organism within the plankton is a ''plankter.'' ''Plankton'' is to be contrasted with: the ''nekton,'' the large active swimmers like fish, who swim in the water rather than drifting with it: the ''neuston,'' the animals like water-striders and whirligig beetles that live on the surface-tension film at the surface; and the ''benthos,'' the animals like flounders or sea urchins that live on the lake or ocean floor. | ''Plankton'' is a plural or mass noun; the term for an individual organism within the plankton is a ''plankter.'' ''Plankton'' is to be contrasted with: the ''nekton,'' the large active swimmers like fish, who swim in the water rather than drifting with it: the ''neuston,'' the animals like water-striders and whirligig beetles that live on the surface-tension film at the surface; and the ''benthos,'' the animals like flounders or sea urchins that live on the lake or ocean floor. |