mesoplanktonn.
/ˌmɛsə(ʊ)ˈplaŋ(k)tən/, U.S. /ˈˌmɛzoʊˈˌplæŋ(k)t(ə)n/; see also meso- comb. form. Biology.
Plankton inhabiting the region between about 200 metres (approx. 670 feet) from the sea floor and 200 metres from the surface. More generally: relatively large microplankton.
ΚΠ
1898 G. H. Fowler in Proc. Zool. Soc. 545 In my lectures.., I have felt the need of simple terms to express briefly the Oceanic zones, and have used the following:..Mesoplankton: ± 100 fathoms below surface to ± 100 fathoms above.
1920 Science 3 Sept. 215/1 That is the region that Alexander Agassiz..supposed to be..relatively destitute [of life] compared with the surface and the bottom, in opposition to the contention of Murray and other oceanographers that an abundant meso-plankton was present.
1991 R. S. K. Barnes & K. H. Mann Fund. Aquatic Ecol. (ed. 2) ii. 41 (caption) Representative micro- and mesoplankton hyperiid amphipod.
Derivatives
mesoplankˈtonic adj.
ΚΠ
1898 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1029 The supposition that Globigerina pachyderma is a mesoplanktonic form.
1969 Ecol. Monogr. 39 441/2 Only one species, S[agitta] decipiens is clearly restricted to the mesoplanktonic stratum.
1994 Polar Biol. 14 243/2 The vertical distribution and abundance of mesoplanktonic cnidarians on a transect across the Weddell Sea.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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