Life in the shelf seas - Introduction to the Physical and Biological Oceanography of Shelf Seas - page 151

Figure 5.11 See colour plates version . Some examples of autotrophic phytoplankton. (a) The
coccolithophorids Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa mullerae; (b) An armoured
dinoflagellate Gonyaulax; (c) A naked dinoflagellate Gymnodinium; (d) An armoured
dinoflagellate Protoperidinium; (e) The warm water diatom Planktonella sol; (f) A diatom
Thalassiosira. Images supplied by Alex Poulton (National Oceanography Centre, UK),
Jeremy Young (University College London, UK) and Daria Hinz (University of
Southampton, UK).

heterotrophs, including fish larvae and small fish, and so are the main link to
higher trophic levels (i.e. progressively larger organisms) and ultimately commercial
fisheries. We will briefly describe the characteristics of the main autotrophic
groups, starting with the smallest. Figure 5.11 shows some examples of the

phytoplankton.