Status of Plankton and Benthos in the Aquaculture field of Bangladesh

Phytoplankton is a key food item in both aquaculture and mariculture. Phytoplankton is utilized as food for the animals in aquaculture directly. The plankton are collected from a body of water or cultured. Phytoplankton is used as a food stock for the production of rotifers and also used to feed molluscs, pearl oysters and giant clams. Plankton is divided into two groups belonging to phytoplankton and zooplankton. Phytoplankton has chlorophyll to capture sunlight, and they use photosynthesis to turn it into chemical energy. Zooplankton is a small floating or weakly swimming organism. Zooplankton moves vertically in the water column each day, feeding on the phytoplankton, small floating plants such as algae. Zooplankton serves as an intermediary species in the food chain, transferring energy from planktonic algae to the larger invertebrate predators and fish. Benthos is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the seabed, river, lake or stream bottom, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine or freshwater sedimentary environment, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental, and then down to the abyssal depths.