picoplankton

English

Etymology

pico- +‎ plankton

Noun

picoplankton (uncountable)

1. The plankton composed of cells between 0.2 and 2 micrometers.
   • 2007 January 9, Douglas Martin, “John Sieburth, 79, Who Studied Various Types of Marine Life, Dies”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     He and P. W. Johnson confirmed the recent discovery of a species of photosynthetic picoplankton, using electron microscopes to perceive fluorescence produced by the chlorophyll of the organisms.

Usage notes

• Can refer to other size ranges

Coordinate terms

• megaplankton (>20cm), macroplankton (2-20 cm), mesoplankton (0.2-20mm), microplankton (20-200μm), nanoplankton (2-20μm), picoplankton (0.2-2μm), femtoplankton (<0.2μm)