1 January 2022 | New Scientist | 27Unsung heroes
THESE mesmerising shots
reveal the microscopic beauty
of plankton – and their predators.
They are part of a film and photo
project called Planktonium
by photographer Jan van IJken,
who captured this diverse array
of species in various Dutch waters,
including puddles, lakes and seas.
Plankton form the base of
marine and freshwater food webs.
They consist of phytoplankton
(plants) and zooplankton
(animals). Their name derives
from the Greek word for “drifter”,
since they are too tiny to fight
tides or currents. Phytoplankton
oxygenate the ocean through
photosynthesis, enabling marine
animals to thrive, and produce
about half the world’s oxygen.
On these pages are
(clockwise from far left): a larva of
a polychaete worm during a stage
of its life cycle when it is considered
to be a plankton; a diatom
phytoplankton – which have see-
through cell walls made of silica –
called Licmophora flabellata; and
another diatom, Coscinodiscus.
Overleaf, the top-left image
shows a single-celled radiolaria
zooplankton, with internal
skeletal structures and external
spikes of silica. Below, a crustacean
called a copepod gathers diatoms.
Copepods feed on phytoplankton
and tiny aquatic animals, and
are a vital food source for larger
species, such as fish. On the right is
another predator of plankton, the
water flea Polyphemus pediculus,
with two eggs in tow.
Van IJken admires the “beauty,
fine detail and incredible shapes”
of plankton. “Their invisibility to
the naked eye makes it even more
interesting to observe the tiny
creatures,” he says. ❚
Gege Li
Images continue on the next page
Photographer Jan van IJken