plankter

noun

plank·​ter ˈplaŋ(k)-tər 

plural plankters

: an individual planktonic organism (such as a dinoflagellate, diatom, copepod, or radiolarian)

What these marine organisms lack in size, they make up for in numbers. For example, phytoplankton are microorganisms that reside near the water's surface and live off sunlight. You need a microscope to see an individual plankter, but you can see phytoplankton blooms from space.

—Umair Irfan

When we look casually at the sea around us, we may be hardly aware that living concealed beneath the surface, especially in harbour and coastal waters, are millions of tiny organisms … which together make up the plankton. Each plankton organism is known as a plankter.

—Vivienne Cassie

Word History

Etymology

Greek planktēr wanderer, from plazesthai

First Known Use

1933, in the meaning defined above