Don’t Eat Me! is a category that represents a struggle as old as time itself: survival of the fittest, predatory organisms and their prey. At the top are zooplankton, such as the copepod, which feeds upon plankton such as Asterionella, and Stenosemella, which are also represented here. In this ongoing struggle, no one is safe. The balance of good and evil played out on a microbial battlefield where the only question (if plankton could ask questions), is: Are you safe, or next?
Don’t eat me! Copepods and Protoperidinium are two organisms that play both roles of predator and prey depending on size and species. These zooplankton are known as picky eaters; both have adapted starvation periods when food sources are low. This category addresses s the relationship between the two as predator and prey, as well as their feeding behaviors and how they can work together to regulate the phytoplankton communities. The question is can they work together to maintain phytoplankton, or will the fight for survival continue?
