Primary Consumers In The Ocean
Many of these primary consumers feed on phytoplankton.
Primary consumers in the ocean. The primary consumer also known as the 2nd order consumer is the 2nd trophic level. Primary consumers eat biomass producing primary producers such as plants seaweed and algae. Herbivores eat the first level organisms and are included in the primary consumers group. Primary consumers are in turn eaten by fish small sharks corals and baleen whales.
As primary consumers zooplankton are the crucial link between the primary producers mainly phytoplankton and the rest of the marine food web secondary consumers. In other words primary consumers are organisms that take up food directly from plants. Overall the main decomposer organisms in marine ecosystems are bacteria. Other important decomposers are fungi marine worms echinoderms crustaceans and mollusks.
In an ecological food chain consumers are classed into primary secondary and tertiary consumers primary consumers make up the second trophic level as they feed on primary producers. Tropical oceans like the pacific have more decomposer organisms than the atlantic or arctic oceans because of the warmer temperatures. Primary consumers in the ocean include zooplankton small fish mussels sea urchins even the parrot fish and the large green sea turtle. And sea urchins as you know feed on coral reefs and kelp.
In the food chain above krill is our primary consumer because it eats plankton and lives in the arctic ocean. One group is zooplankton. If phytoplankton dies before it is eaten it descends through the euphotic zone as part of the marine snow and settles into the depths of sea. Primary consumers get its energy by eating the producers.
The ocean has many herbivores. Humans consume aquatic life from every section of this food web. Top ocean predators include large sharks billfish dolphins toothed whales and large seals. Other herbivores include small fish squid sea urchins and krill.
Secondary consumers also known as 3rd order consumers are the 3rd trophic level. Zooplankton are animal plankton. Every fish and animal in the ocean plays an integral role in the health of the marine ecosystem.