They are small, almost transparent, similar to jellyfish, and they occur in the ocean in huge quantities. Cnidaria, Ctenophora and Urochordata belong to the gelatinous plankton communities that are omnipresent in the ocean and are among the primary food sources for more highly developed marine organisms. Thus, they have a very important function in the marine ecosystem. Another one is their contribution to the marine carbon cycle, as they bind large amounts of carbon which is transported into the deep ocean. An international group of marine scientists under the leadership of the Future Ocean Network in Kiel has now been able to quantify this contribution in a study recently published in the scientific journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
Click here for original story, Gelatinous zooplankton makes an important contribution to marine carbon transport
Source: Phys.org