phytoplanktonn.
/ˌfʌɪtəʊˈplaŋ(k)tən/, U.S. /ˌfaɪdoʊˈplæŋkt(ə)n/ Biology.
Plankton consisting of microscopic plants.
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phytoplankton1897
1897 Science 23 July 141/1 This uniformity..is due to the similarity of the chemical constituents in the water, resulting in a uniform growth of the phyto-plankton and the zooplankton depending upon it.
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. 15 336 In the spring months there is a great development of bacteria and other Phytoplankton, which render the water less transparent than at other times of the year.
1928 Daily Express 28 May 10/7 Miss S. M. Marshall..is described technically as the ‘phytoplankton worker’.
1956 Nature 3 Mar. 438/1 Smaller phytoplankton elements which will pass through the finest nets are of great importance in the productivity of the oceans.
1986 B. Lopez Arctic Dreams vi. 220 The life of the polar seas is structured around a spring bloom of epontic phytoplankton [i.e. growing on the undersurface of the ice] that initiates a period of active feeding by herbivorous zooplankton.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1897