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Diatoms
NOT ON EXHIBIT
At the Aquarium
Natural History
Diatoms are microscopic water plants. Like all plants, they need sun to grow, so they live only in sunlit waters. In spring and summer, when conditions along our coast are just right, diatoms grow so fast and in such numbers they turn the water green. The seasonal abundance of diatoms is one reason for the rich marine life in Monterey Bay.
Conservation
The open ocean is the world's "plankton pasture," home to the tiny drifting plants and animals that power enormous food chains. Diatoms are key members of the plant plankton. Plankton feeds small fishes, which in turn feed bigger fishes, sea birds, seals and whales. We, too, depend on fishes nourished by ocean plankton.
Cool Facts
Diatoms live in glass houses. Their cell walls are made of silica, the same material that's in glass.
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Animal Facts
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ON EXHIBIT
- Scientific Name:
Division Chrysophyta
- Habitat:
Open Waters
- Animal Type:
Plants & Algae
- Diet:
photosynthesis (converts sunlight and nutrients to energy)
- Size:
to 15 microns
- Range:
sunlit oceans and freshwater habitats worldwide
- Relatives:
other microalgae; Division: Chrysophyta; Class: Bacillariophyceae
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